Against all odds: Woman wakes up after 28 years in a coma

She was just 32 years old, and in the years that followed, there were no signs she would recover. Photo / 123RF

Munira Abdulla was left completely unresponsive when a bus rammed into her car. Now, 28 years later, she's defied the odds.

A Middle Eastern woman who was left in a vegetative state following a car crash has regained full consciousness after 28 years.

Munira Abdulla suffered a severe brain injury in 1991 after a bus rammed into the car she was travelling home in.

Ms Abdulla had picked her four-year-old son, Omar, up from school in the United Arab Emirates at the time of the incident. As the bus hit, Ms Abdulla threw herself around her son to protect him from the impact. While she suffered a severe head injury, he escaped with just a bruise.

She was just 32 years old, and in the years that followed, there were no signs she would recover.

But last year, Ms Abdulla's family were blown away when the completely unexpected occurred.

The National reports that after being transferred to a London hospital following the crash, Ms Abdulla was determined to be in a minimally conscious state.

This meant she was unresponsive but could still feel pain.

She returned to the UAE where she was again hospitalised, before being transferred to a German hospital in 2017 after the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed, offered to pay for treatment.

There, she was treated with physiotherapy and drugs to improve her wakefulness and sleeping patterns. Her son Omar Webair told The National it appeared to make his mother more responsive.

Then in 2018, Mr Webair was amazed to find his mother calling his name after hearing him arguing in a hospital room - the row had "caused her a shock".

"She was making strange sounds and I kept calling the doctors to examine her, they said everything was normal," Mr Webair said.

"Then three days later I woke up to the sound of someone calling my name. It was her! She was calling my name, I was flying with joy; for years I have dreamt of this moment, and my name was the first word she said."

Mr Webair explained when he told the German doctors he thought his mother might talk again, they told him he was 'running wild' with his imagination.

Since she regained consciousness, Ms Abdulla has returned to Abu Dhabi and continues to improve.

She can recite prayers from the Koran, tell people when she's in pain, and even answer questions.

"The reason I shared her story is to tell people not to lose hope on their loved ones; don't consider them dead when they are in such a state," Mr Webair said.

"All those years the doctors told me she was a hopeless case, and that there was no point of the treatment I was seeking for her, but whenever in doubt I put myself in her place and did whatever I could to improve her condition."