Michigan Mom Hopes to Walk Again After Waking Up From 5-Year Coma

Six years after a car accident that nearly took her life, a Michigan woman has new hope. Hope that she may one day walk again.

Car Accident That Nearly Took Her Life

Jennifer Flewellen of Niles, Michigan was in a vehicle accident in September of 2017. That devastating accident left her in what doctors believed to be an irreversible coma.

But Jennifer defied the odds. And her mother - Peggy Means - never gave up hope.

“Nobody expected her to wake up,” Means tells 16 News Now. “We were told all along that she has anoxia and that the brain damage, she’ll never wake up, but you never say never.”

Means tells the TV station that Jennifer pushed her three sons to be active. She started them in their school's football program believing that keeping her boys busy meant keeping them off the street and out of trouble.

Against All Odds, Mom Attends Her Youngest Son's Football Game

Flewellen missed her two older sons' 'Senior Nights' of high school football but after almost five years in a coma, a miracle happened. Jennifer woke from her coma last August, after being in a coma for almost five years.

Last month, she was able to attend her youngest son's 'Senior Night' and watched as her son Julian scored the game's opening touchdown and finished with three touchdowns and over 100 yards in his school's win.

Michigan Woman Gets Life-Changing News

Since attending that high school football game last month, Flewellen's family has received some great news. Peggy Means tells WNDU that her daughter has been accepted at Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in Grand Rapids, revered as one of the best in the country.

Means says that Flewellen wasn't strong enough for rehabilitation right after she awoke from her coma but has gained a lot of strength in the last 15 months. Her hope is that Jennifer will one day be able to walk again.

“Any accomplishment, I mean, to be able to sit up on her own, you know, small things that we all take for granted,” Means said. “And her speech; they’ll help with her speech. It’s frustrating for her, and it would be for all of us; you want to be able to interact with people. So, the ultimate goal is to walk, with so many more goals in between.”