Colorado Woman Awake for Three Days After 6 Year Coma

When a loved one slips into a coma, it is undoubtedly a trying time. As years roll by, it can become easy to loose hope that your relative will wake up. So one can imagine the excitement the family of Christa Lilly felt when she woke up from a seven year coma. Unfortunately, Lilly slipped back into a coma three days later.

Colorado Springs, Colorado resident Christa Lilly went into a coma-like state in November 2000 after suffering cardiac arrest. After the heart attack, Lilly, who suffered brain damage, slipped into a coma and later went into a vegetative state. She has been kept alive via feeding tube.

On Sunday, March 4, as Minnie Smith often does, she asked her daughter how she was feeling. To her surprise, Lilly replied, "Fine". Smith took care of Lilly at home. Smith, 73, reported to doctors that this is the fifth time her daughter has awakened. The previous four times were brief, lasting a few hours at best.

During her three days awake, Lilly was able to see her four children, as well as three grandchildren she had never met before. She was also able to interview with KKTV-TV. During her television interview, she said that the biggest frustration was learning to speak again.

Christa Lilly, 49, fell back into a coma-like state after mere days of consciousness. Neurologist Dr. Randall Bjork told reporters of the Colorado Springs Gazette that Lilly's current state is more a "minimally conscious state" than a persistent vegetative state. Vegetative states are similar to comas, except the patients eyes are open.

Bjork also told Gazette reporters that it may be necessary to rethink how much awareness patients in a vegetative state actually have. He was unsure whether Lilly was actually awake the previous times Smith reported to him.