After 20 years in a coma, Sarah Scantlin one day mysteriously woke up and started speaking in a medical miracle never seen before.
In 1984, Scantlin was just like any other eighteen-year-old, going out with friends, having fun, and finishing school.
One night, a drunk driver struck her, bringing all of this to a tragic end.
She had a severe head injury and spinal cord damage as a result, going into a debilitating coma.
James Scantlin, Sarah’s father, relates how he was informed that his daughter “was gone” in a CBS interview.
Her family was increasingly resigned to the awful outcome that they would never speak to their daughter again as time passed. Usually, people in a coma start to come to terms after a few weeks.
So the physicians were really taken aback when Scantlin started talking one day.
Among the first individuals to see Scantlin upon her awakening was her closest friend Lori Shockley, who had been traveling three hours to see her in the hospital ever since she had gone into a coma two decades before.
Following their sixth-grade reunion, Scantlin and I became the closest of friends, sharing a bond like that of sisters.
Normally a depressing journey to Scantlin, the day she was reunited with her best buddy was anything but dull. She walked excitedly into the room where Shockley was waiting, letting out a hilariously’savage’ first remark.
After seeing the joy on Scantlin’s face upon seeing her best friend, Shockley gave her a big hug and asked: “What’s new about me today?”
To which Scantlin replied, “You’re old.”
Giggling, Shockley responded, “Am I?! Because that would make you old too Sarah.”
Scantlin’s surprise at finding her pal suddenly 20 years older is definitely justified—she last saw Shockley when she was an 18-year-old.
Unfortunately, after 20 years in a coma, Scantlin’s powers were diminished from before the tragedy. Her muscles had lain dormant for so long that her joints had spasms, and her speech was garbled.
‘The Sarah that’s with us today is very much the same Sarah that was with us 20 years ago,’ claims Shockley, despite her physical ability altering.
In a heartwarming moment, Shockley asks Scantlin: “Who’s your best friend?” To which Scantlin simply replies: “You.”
Scantlin gradually improved her speech after emerging from the vegetative state, and in an amazing video, she is seen singing “Happy Birthday” to her father for the first time in 22 years.
Sadly, Scantlin died in May 2016 of what appeared to be respiratory problems and declining blood pressure, but her amazing tale never ceases to inspire.
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