Steven Thorpe Brain Dead, Makes Miraculous Recovery
Steven Thorpe, 17, declared legally brain dead by four specialists after a car accident, was set to have his life support machine turned off when a miraculous turn of events took place. After being in a coma for two weeks with supposedly no hope of recovery he suddenly awoke from his coma, and has left doctors astonished and amazed.
Thorpe was traveling in a Range Rover in Warwickshire, England when a horse ran out in front of the car. The other boy in the vehicle was immediately killed, and Thorpe was left with serious injuries to his face, head and arms. Two days later doctors declared him legally brain dead.
"The doctors were telling my parents that they wanted to take me off the life support. The words they used to my parents were, 'You need to start thinking about organ donations.'" Thorpe told the Daily Mail.
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"I think that's what gave my dad energy. He thought 'No way.' They still believed I was there. When they sat around the bed that had the feeling I was there and some words they said to me, I reacted to. I think if my dad had agreed with them, then I would have been off the life support machine in seconds."
The Daily Mail reports that it was Thorpe's father who contacted another physician in a last-ditch attempt to save his son's life. Julia Piper, a General Practitioner, then contacted a neurosurgeon, who declared that Steven was not brain dead.
Doctors agreed to try and bring Steven out of his medically induced coma in order to see if he would react. After two weeks, he woke up and was shocked to learn how close he had come to death.
"It's very worrying to think that more than one specialist had written me off. Hopefully, it can help people see that you should never give up. If you have a gut feeling about something then follow it. My father believed I was alive, and he was correct."
Today Steven is thriving despite having lost use of his left arm. He has gone through several reconstructive surgeries to repair his face yet considers it all "a full recovery."
Dr. Piper, the woman responsible for saving Steven's life, said that she was "astonished with the outcome" but "worries this may happen more often than we know. As a parent, I wanted to help [the Thorpes] even if there was only the smallest of chances."
A spokesman for the hospital where Steven was treated acknowledged the rarity of his recovery. "The injury to Steven's brain was extremely critical and several CT scans of the head showed almost irreversible damage. We were delighted to see Steven recover."
