John Pennington, a 30-year-old man from Las Vegas, has shared his harrowing experience after waking up from a six-month coma. He suffered life-altering injuries in a car crash, including a traumatic brain injury and collapsed lungs, leaving him in a coma.
The Awakening
Recounting the moment he regained consciousness on Reddit, John said: "I woke up thinking it was time to go to work, but for some reason, found myself strapped to a bed in the hospital. When I met eyes with the attending nurse and asked if I could use the bathroom, she teared up and ran out of the room - only to come back a few minutes later to apologise and explain that for the past six months, I had been in a coma due to a very severe traumatic brain injury."
Devastating News
The heartbreaking news did not end there. John was subsequently hit with an eye-watering $2.5 million (about £2 million) hospital bill, excluding the further costs of two rehabilitation stints. In a Q&A session on Reddit, he revealed that upon waking, his immediate thoughts turned to his father, yet for weeks nobody would give him a straight answer.
He said: "It was tough feeling like I upset him or he couldn't handle seeing me like that. My sister told me four weeks after waking up that our father had killed himself. He couldn't handle everything going on and took his own life. That guilt followed me throughout my recovery... I learned a bit more about suicide and it helped me finally forgive myself. Was there a reason to blame myself? No. Some drunk kid driving his father's BMW with no headlights wrecked into my buddy and me causing the traumatic brain injury, but I couldn't shake that feeling for some time."
Financial Burden
In a follow-up post, John explained that he had initially launched a GoFundMe campaign to cover his medical bills, though it proved unsuccessful. Thankfully, his solicitor intervened to help manage the costs. He added: "My lawyer did a great job getting everything paid though. I was relieved when he told me it worked out. I didn't get rich, but if you consider how much I owed. I kinda did."
For emotional support, you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, visit a Samaritans branch in person, or go to the Samaritans website.
