Sharista Giles Wakes Up From A Coma And Finds Out She Is A New Mom

Sharista Giles, 20 years old, woke up from a coma that she had been in since December after a horrible car accident left the five-month-pregnant young woman unable to open her eyes. On Wednesday her family got the miracle they had been praying for. Sharista opened her eyes for the first time in four months. The young woman was shown a picture of her new baby, and according to ABC, she followed the picture with her eyes. When they placed the baby’s picture up on a bulletin board, she even turned her head to try to find it again.

Giles is from Madisonville, Tennessee, and met with a disastrous fate in December when she was on her way home from a concert in Nashville. Sharista was driving in a car with a group of friends when the driver fell asleep at the wheel and hit a road barrier. Giles suffered a traumatic brain injury that ultimately led her in a comatose state. Doctors initially gave the family a very grim prognosis for the young woman and told family members that it was extremely unlikely that Sharista would ever wake up again.

Doctors made the difficult decision to deliver Sharista’s baby prematurely in January by Cesarean delivery. The baby was born weighing less than two pounds, but currently weighs a healthy six pounds and four ounces. The family has yet to name Giles’ baby, so for now, they are calling him Baby L, according to reports.

On Wednesday, Sharista’s family received a phone call from the Harriman Care and Rehabilitation Center, telling them that the young woman had opened her eyes. The entire family rushed down to see her.

According to a post on the family’s Facebook page, Sharista had been responding relatively well to all of the attention.

“Sharista has her eyes open n blinking n squeezing our fingers when we ask her to. Praise the Lord! She was following her daddy’s voice n we showed her a picture of Baby L n she seen him!!! She has had her eyes opened all morning n still has them open! Come on with the Prayers!! God is Great!!She is not communicating yet but this is a great start!!”

The prognosis for Giles remains unclear to her families and medical professionals at this time, and no one is really even sure if she has regained consciousness. But the simple fact that her eyes are open is a major improvement for Sharista. Baby L is at a neonatal intensive care unit at the University of Tennessee Medical Center until he gains enough weight, and doctors feel that he can eat and breathe on his own without the assistance of machines or medical staff. Sharista’s family says that as soon as the baby can leave the hospital they plan on bringing him to meet his mother.

A GoFundMe campaign has been started to raise money for Sharista and her son, and so far it has raised almost $8,000 to help with medical expenses and travel costs for the family.

[Photo courtesy of Family/Facebook]