'She shouldn't be alive': Wiggle of toe stops doctors from pulling life support
A British student left in a coma after breaking her neck in a horrific car crash has stopped doctors from removing her life support with moments to spare.
Sam Hemming was given little hope of survival when the car she and her boyfriend were travelling in flipped on the M6 motorway.
"They usually give a patient three attempts to see if they can breathe on their own before switching it [off] for good and letting the patient die,” her mother Carol said.
“Before they switched it off for a final time, one of her specialists said her big toe wiggled.”
The impact of the collision took off her left ear and broke four bones in her neck, where doctors told her family there was little more they could do.
She was airlifted to hospital and underwent a grueling six-hour operation before doctors placed her in a medically induced coma.
"Sammy shouldn't be alive. She suffered the worst injuries anyone could have in a car crash,” Carol said.
"She was in the coma and after 19 days the doctors told us it was time to say goodbye. We gathered in her room and said our farewells.
"She was responding to heat so there was still some brain function. They gave her a tracheotomy and five days later when they turned her life support off she breathed on her own."
Twenty-one-year old boyfriend, Tom Curtis, escaped with minor injuries.
Eight weeks later, Sam was deemed fit enough to return to her Hereford home, where she now lives with her parents and undergoes intensive rehabilitation sessions.
Her mother has given up work to care for Sam full-time as she recovers from her accident.
"It's slow progress but Sam is determined to get better and wants to practice law," Carol said.
"She's already beaten huge odds to be here today so there's no reason why she shouldn't amaze us all again."
