For some, giving up is an option to be considered when they feel all means have been exhausted. For mothers, however, it’s a phrase no one should ever utter around them, especially when it’s about a person they care about the most.
Jennifer Flewellen was driving to work on September 25, 2017, not knowing that it would be the last time she’ll ever see her kids. It was just a day like any other until it turned into a 5-year nightmare.
Flewellen was on the road when she began feeling lightheaded.
Her car then veered off the road and slammed straight into a pole. The damage she endured was so severe that the only option the doctors have was to place her into a medically induced coma.
She was placed in a state of slumber to which no one knows if she’ll ever wake up. She was not alone in the fight. Peggy Means, her mother, lived through the entire ordeal with her.
Doctors and other medical staff were talking her into ending her daughter’s suffering.
They told her that Flewellen would just get worse as she lay in a vegetative state. According to experts, only about 2% of people come out from this suspended state after several years.
Means didn’t want to hear any of it. No matter how much the doctors convinced her, Means had to place her hope that her daughter would wake up one day. She said that there was “no room for negativity.”
Weeks became months, and months into years.
Means had to transfer her daughter from one long-term care facility after the other just so she could make sure Flewellen was getting the best care.
She tried her best to be beside her daughter as much as she could. She worked as an industrial sewer and luckily for her, the company understood her situation. They allowed her to bring her machine home so she could work with whatever time she has.
This meant that Means could see her daughter six days a week. On the one day that she couldn’t, which is Sundays, she goes to visit her daughter’s children to check on them and their needs.
She cared for her daughter in so many ways. She strolled with Flewellen around the facility. Sometimes, she’d even make days special with “spa days.” Little did she know, her efforts were about to culminate in a moment she’ll never forget.
Means was walking Flewellen when she cracked a joke.
Then, she could’ve sworn she saw her daughter laugh. She couldn’t believe it at first so she did so again. Flewellen would laugh at this and then go back to sleep.
She made other statements as well whenever Flewellen had a lucid moment. While non-verbal, her daughter could answer her questions correctly through her facial expressions.
After five years in a coma, Flewellen is finally awake. The journey wasn’t done, however. As she became more conscious, Means would now have to push harder so that Flewellen could get the rehabilitation programs she needed.
Through her mother’s love, Flewellen returned just in time for her son’s most treasured moments.
“About a year ago, I had it in my mind that she was going to come to my game, she was going to come to my senior year, senior night and things like that,” Julian told WBND-LD. “I’ve talked about it for a while, and I dreamed of it and prayed for it, and it happened.”
Flewellen, now 41, completed dozens of hours of physical, speech, and occupational therapy at Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital, where her mother also learned new skills to help her better, especially as her primary caregiver.
The battle is long and hard, but Flewellen triumphed over the odds and was reunited with her sons. For those who witnessed their story, however, they all said one thing — behind this great journey is a mother’s love that didn’t flinch or falter in the face of tremendous challenges. It only goes to show that a mother’s love know no bounds.
Watch how this woman woke up after a 5-year coma to watch her son’s football game.
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