While there are non-scary reasons to go to the hospital, you can bet that many of the patients within those walls are living out some of the worst moments of their lives.
And if the conditions they’re suffering aren’t enough to make them nervous, the bills they’ll incur after their stay are likely to set their nerves on edge.
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We can also say that these moments aren’t any easier for the healthcare workers who have to deal with their ailments in real-time, but hospitals are nonetheless places that sometimes provide opportunities to witness something miraculous .
And in many cases, it’s hard not to feel as though that’s what’s happening when you see someone come out of a someone come out of a coma .
But while this was obviously a jarring experience for one man, his incredible fortune would also come with a horrifying realization.
Be advised that this article contains discussions of suicide and narcotics addiction and if either of these issues are overwhelming your life, please make use of the following resources.
Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services Administration National Helpline: 1-800-662-4357
National Suicide Prevention Helpline: 1-800-273-8255
In 2015, John Pennington woke up with every intention of getting up to go to work, but was surprised to find his arms and legs tied to a hospital bed.
He shared this in an interview with MEL magazin e, but expanded upon his story in an “Ask Me Anything” session on Reddit, in which he revealed that he and a friend had been driving when their car was struck by “some drunk kid Driving his fathers BMW with no headlights.”
But of course, he didn’t know this at the time of waking up because he was impacted far more severely than the friend was.
So when he noticed his predicament and saw that a nurse had started crying as soon as he asked her to untie him so he could go to the bathroom, he assumed he had killed someone.
But what she would later explain was that he had suffered such a severe traumatic brain injury during the crash that it put him in a coma for six months.
Not only did the attending neurologist expect him not to wake up, but was confident that he would be in a vegetative state if he did.
As for the straps, Pennington found out that he had been tied to the hospital bed because he kept taking his catheter out.
But while it would take two years of intensive rehabilitation to regain his bodily functions and to adjust to life with his brain injury, none of that compared to the tragic news he would receive four weeks after he woke up.
As he revealed on Reddit, his father had died by suicide while Pennington was in his coma.
In his words , “Everything else I carried the attitude that I’ll deal with it. Losing my father was the toughest thing.”
He further explained that in addition to the shock of what happened to him, his father was facing eviction due to the fact that his sister was addicted to methamphetamine at the time and the rent money was going to her dealer.
But while Pennington referred to his father as the strongest man he had ever known, it was he and his sister who would end up overcoming this dark chapter in their lives.
As she explained in his Reddit thread , she has now been sober for six years and Pennington has in turn confirmed this and recalled her crying when he told her their father would be proud of her for getting clean.
Every year, Pennington buys a cake in his dad’s honor to celebrate his birthday.
And while Pennington has regained some peace in his life, he too spent a long time overwhelmed by feelings of responsibility for his father’s death despite the fact that the car accident wasn’t his fault.
In his words, “That guilt followed me throughout my recovery. I did feel guilty. I started back to school and Psychology was my major. I learned a bit more about suicide and it helped me finally forgive myself.”
h/t: MEL Magazine , Reddit | WeAreMEL
If the issues discussed in this article are overwhelming your life, please make use of the following resources.
Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services Administration National Helpline: 1-800-662-4357
National Suicide Prevention Helpline: 1-800-273-8255
