She survived, but suffered a massive brain injury, which left her in a vegetative state with little hope of meaningful recovery.
The vegetative state is often described as ‘wakefulness without awareness’.
These patients open their eyes and will often have sleeping and waking cycles, although they remain non-responsive to any form of external prompting or stimulation.
They are both ‘there’ and ‘not there’, lingering in the indeterminate space between life and death.
For decades, it was assumed that such patients lack any awareness, including who they are, where they are, and the predicament they are in.
Yet we now know that many of these patients have been completely conscious all along.
This article first appeared in issue 370 of BBC Science Focus Magazine – find out how to subscribe here. »