On Valentines Day 2010, Sam, 23, was playing in a charity soccer match when he took a hard hit to the head. Minutes later, he had suffered eight consecutive strokes. Over the next few hours, Sam's condition worsened until his brain shut down and his body fell into a coma. Sam was hospitalized for the next 15 months. His fiancé, Sally, never left his side.
When Sam first awoke, he couldn't talk. He was trapped inside his body and felt powerless, but his love for "Sal" kept him going. Meanwhile, doctors told Sally he would likely never walk or speak normally again.
Sally refused to give up on Sam. She began scouring the internet and stumbled across some intriguing information. A controversial sleeping pill, Stilnox (also known as Ambien), had been used in similar cases of brain injury to "wake up" the injured brain. Desperate for a solution, Sally decided to give Sam a dose of Stilnox, despite the fact doctors refused to prescribe it to him. She was shocked by what came next…
It was the end of 2009, and Sam and Sally were to be married in just a few months. They were active, happy and so in love.
On Valentine's Day 2010, Sam suffered a brain injury while playing soccer, along with eight massive strokes. Doctors told Sally he'd be a "vegetable" for the rest of his life and would never recover.
When Sam awoke from the coma, he was unable to speak and could only moan. That's when Sally started scouring the internet -- and what she found changed life forever.
Sally learned about a controversial sleeping pill, Stilnox, also known as Ambien. In cases similar to Sam's, Stilnox was used to "wake up" the injured brain.
Desperate for a solution, Sally decided to give Sam a dose of Stilnox without doctor's orders. Though research is still in its early stages, scientists say that an active ingredient in Ambien increases blood flow in the brain in the areas of language comprehension.
Since taking the drug, Sam miraculously started to regain his speech and walk on his own. Doctors were shocked by Sam's sudden recovery; it's rare for brain injury patients to respond to such a drug, and in such a positive way. After 15 months in the hospital, he was home.
"Sam is without a doubt the most inspirational person I know," Sally says. "It was so incredibly hard to watch his deterioration in hospital, but seeing him now, recovering and making milestones is just a complete blessing."
