By MELISSA WELLHAM
It was winter in 1999. Helen Sage was having a tough week. Her 22-year-old daughter, Sarah, had been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease – a chronic inflammatory disease of the intestines – and had just had surgery.
She was worried about Sarah, and focused on looking after her.
But – as we all know – the universe sometimes has a tendency to kick people when they’re already down.
Because while Helen was worried about Sarah, Sarah’s twin sister Jayne was involved in a catastrophic car accident when the car she was driving struck a truck.
When Helen and her family first rushed to the hospital, they were unprepared for how peaceful Jayne looked.
In an interview with Mamamia, Helen says she “felt totally gutted. Though Jayne had only a graze on her right temple, she was breathing on a ventilator amid myriad tubes – her dependence was profound and shocking.”
Jayne was in a coma, and her life hung in the balance.
She stayed in that coma for months.
“Those months and beyond were a time of wrenching grief. I stayed by Jayne’s side as much as possible until she roused. I read excerpts from books such as Ted Freeman’s Catastrophe of Coma,” says Helen.
Helen found it impossible to give up hope – and made sure spent time with her daughter every day. “I involved myself in Jayne’s care every day. I told myself, ‘It is this day only that needs to be managed.’ I watched for any signs of arousal, believing that surely at some point she’d wake,” Helen says.