A 49-year-old woman who was left unable to walk, talk or feed herself for nine months following a brain haemorrhage has made a stunning recovery after a last-ditch surgical procedure.
Pauline Quinn suffered a subarachnoid haemorrhage caused by a ruptured aneurysm in July 2011. She underwent multiple operations, including clipping of the aneurysm and a craniotomy, but remained unresponsive. Her family had begun looking for a residential home after doctors said there was nothing more they could do.
In February 2012, consultant neurosurgeon Umang Patel inserted a shunt to drain fluid from Ms Quinn's brain. She briefly regained consciousness and spoke, but then slipped back into a vegetative state. As a final attempt, Mr Patel inserted another shunt, and three days later Ms Quinn was talking and trying to get out of bed.
Her sister, Janiece Wallace, said: 'I walked through the door and she said "Hi Janiece, how are you doing?" I felt like I had been hit by a bus.' Ms Quinn had no memory of the nine months and thought she had been in hospital for only a few weeks.
Ms Quinn spent two months learning to walk again and now enjoys cooking and painting. She is training for a 5k run to raise money for the Sheffield charity Neurocare. Her sister said: 'It's her second chance at life and she is so much stronger than she ever was before.'
