Mom celebrates her first Mother's day at home after waking up from a 5-year coma

Mother's Day fills many homes with love and affection, but for some, like Michigan mother Jennifer Flewellen, it's a reminder of challenges and missed celebrations due to unforeseen events. According to People, Jennifer's Mother's Days have been overshadowed by a tragic car crash in 2017. The accident took place on September 25 of that year. Flewellen had dropped off her three young boys at school in the morning and was on her way to work at Bittersweet Pet Resorts. She collided with a utility pole around 8:23 AM, per WSJM. She fell into a coma, compelling her mother to retire early to provide care. After awakening from a five-year coma in 2022, she was discharged from the hospital, eager to reclaim the precious time lost with her family.

Flewellen's mother, Peggy Means, told CBS News about how she never gave up hope when her daughter was in a coma. Fortunately, the family got some much-needed quality time together this Mother's Day as Flewellen returned home. Describing the mother’s recovery as miraculous barely does it justice. It all happened with the support of her family, including Means, who used to visit her every day to spend time with her hospitalized daughter.

However, in a remarkable turn during a visit in August 2022, a simple action by Means miraculously prompted her daughter to awaken for the first time in five years. She told her a joke only to be shocked to see her daughter laugh, essentially snapping her out of her coma. Means said, "When she woke up, it scared me at first because she was laughing and she had never done that." Flewellen's mother had no idea that a casual joke would be the primary reason for her daughter's recovery and expressed that it had made her very happy. The year 2022 proved to be an eventful one for the family as Flewellen began to make efforts to speak and move around. To support her new needs, Flewellen’s brother, Kyle Means, initiated a GoFundMe campaign to secure a handicapped van and remodel her home.

The mother mentioned that the laugh was just a catalyst for recovery and that Flewellen slept a lot throughout the day. At most, she could nod her head when somebody talked to her. Means stated, "She would still sleep a lot right at first, but then as the months would go by, she would get stronger and be more awake." Dr. Ralph Dr. Ralph Wang emphasized the rarity of such a miraculous recovery. He noted that very few patients experience such rapid progress after awakening from a coma.