It’s like I’m back from the dead, says ex-coma patient

She slipped into a coma from carbon monoxide poisoning, only to wake up three months later.

PENDANG: The dark moment of passing out in a car and falling into a three-month coma in mid-2014 clearly changed the life of a young woman.

Ummu Diyana Ibrahim, 24, regarded herself as having returned from the dead to continue her study at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), Sintok.

Narrating the incident, Ummu Diyana said it took place when she was returning to her kampung here from Behrang, Perak.

“En route, I felt like I was about to vomit, I did not feel good at all. So, I decided to stop and rest for awhile at the Bukit Gantang Rest & Service Area.

“The last thing I remembered, I allowed the engine and air-conditioning on as I wanted to close my eyes for while,” she said.

The former Behrang Polytechnic student did not at all expect to wake up only three months later.

It was confirmed that she had suffered carbon monoxide poisoning.

“All along when I was in a coma and unconscious, I could hear and see whatever had transpired. But I could not give any response. My whole body was locked,” said the youngest of six siblings.

The doctors wanted to perform an intubation on her neck but her family asked for a postponement of the procedure.

Ummu Diyana regained consciousness on the final date of postponement of the procedure.

“Until the final date of the postponement given by doctors, I was still not giving the required responses. My parents did not give up and talked to me endlessly, asking me to blink, cry or grip their hands if I came to.

“I don’t know how, but I bolstered my spirit and fought the lock shackling me and eventually I regained consciousness,” she said.

She said doctors were shocked, as during the period she was in a coma, medical specialists did not expect her to live long, especially after performing a scan on her.

“What more, when I was found unconscious, the oxygen rate in my body was only 20%. Doctors themselves said my case is a miracle because I do not suffer permanent brain damage except for my slightly affected nerves, especially in the leg. I also lost my voice for a while,” she said.

She said that to date, doctors still could not determine what had happened to the nerves on her leg and some were of the opinion that some nerves failed to connect to the brain.

“So, it will take time for the stimulus of the nerves to become normal. Maybe a month, maybe a year, maybe more,” she said.

Nevertheless, using a walking stick and suffering the occasional pain, did not prevent Ummi Diyana from having a normal life as a first-year student in entrepreneurship at UUM with 515 students from Feb 6.

In fact, she said she was not traumatised about going back behind the wheel and had already done so without problems after being confirmed healthy.

“The experience of coming back from the dead has clearly changed my perspective on life. So I will use this opportunity to do my best. I want to succeed in studies and want to change my life,” she added. -FMT