Shannon Everett
USA- A Mother's Nightmare
- A Battle for Life
- The Road to Recovery
- Learning to Live Again
- A Mother's Determination
- A Miraculous Journey
- Just before midnight, Everett's heart stopped beating.
A Mother's Nightmare
Shannon Everett, an American, suffered from amniotic embolism during childbirth. Her heart stopped beating for 68 minutes, and when she awoke, she was a different person. She believed she was 13 years old and had no memory of her fiancé or her two children.
A Battle for Life
As a result of the amniotic embolism, Everett went into labor unconscious and gave birth to Nico. Doctors placed her in an induced coma to save her life. Two weeks later, she finally held her newborn son in her arms.
When Everett regained consciousness, her family was both relieved and shocked. Her mind had regressed to her early teenage years. After six weeks in the hospital, she went to stay with her mother, Nicola, in Gwent, South Wales, an hour away from her children and fiancé. Everett's eyesight was severely impaired, and she relied heavily on a wheelchair.
The Road to Recovery
"It felt like we came home with two babies," said Nicola. "Shannon needed as much care as Nico." Throughout her ordeal, Everett had expressed her love for her mother and her fiancé, Ioan, of six years, before losing consciousness.
Doctors had warned Everett's family that she might not wake up or could suffer severe brain damage. However, Nicola remained optimistic. "My daughter started calling me 'Mummy' again," she said. "When we asked where she lived, she gave us an address where we lived when she was 13."
"She had no idea she had a fiancé. She didn't believe us when we told her she had two children. It was as if her whole life had been erased."
Learning to Live Again
Nicola added, "The brain injury has severely affected her eyesight. Unfortunately, she is mostly blind. She can only make out shapes."
"It's been difficult for her to bond with Nico because she has no memory of the pregnancy or birth," Nicola said. "Ioan has shown her videos of her three-year-old daughter, Mika. At least that has triggered some recognition in Shannon."
With the help of her family, Everett's memories are slowly returning, but it is evident that many are lost forever. She undergoes intense physiotherapy to help her relearn basic tasks, such as feeding herself and walking. Despite making progress and learning to sit, move her arms, and take steps, Everett still spends much of her time in a wheelchair.
"My other daughter, Evie, is a wheelchair user, so my home is already adapted," said Nicola. "And I can cope with Shannon's care."
"Our aim now is to move closer to Ioan and the children so they can spend as much time with my daughter as possible. At the moment, they have to travel half an hour by bus."
A Mother's Determination
Nicola is determined to help Shannon regain her health and memory. Her family and friends are equally dedicated to ensuring that Everett walks down the aisle in the near future.
"When she was in intensive care, I told Ioan that it would be okay if he wanted to move on," Nicola said. "But he said he would never do that. He loved her. He was willing to marry her."
"I promised him that my daughter will walk down that aisle herself. It will be a challenge, but I know Shannon can do it."
A Miraculous Journey
A few days before her due date, Everett was admitted to the hospital in Newport because of concerns about the baby's growth. However, upon arrival on September 29, it was discovered that she was already two centimeters dilated. By about 11 p.m. the following night, she had dilated to five centimeters. Everett was moved to the delivery room, where her dilation exceeded ten centimeters, and she was instructed to start pushing.
"It was a beautiful moment," Nicola recalled. "First, Shannon told her fiancé that she loved him. Then she said she loved me, and I told her, 'I love you too, baby.'"
Just before midnight, Everett's heart stopped beating.
"I suddenly knew in myself that my daughter had lost the baby," Nicola said. "All the machines started going crazy, and the room was instantly filled with doctors and nurses."
"I held Shannon's head, telling her to open her eyes and keep pushing."
Nicola and Ioan were asked to leave the room. After three years of trying to conceive a second child, they had to leave everything in the hands of the medical team.
"I didn't want to leave Shannon," Nicola said. "My nine-year-old daughter, Evie, was starved of oxygen when she was just six days old, so it was terrifying for me to just sit in the waiting room while Shannon went through this."
For nearly two weeks, Nico and Mika's mother lay in a coma. Suddenly, she began to pick out words from "Like a Prayer" by Madonna, which was playing in the background.
"And then she started singing 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow,'" Nicola recalled. "After that song, my daughter said to me, 'Mummy, I was over the rainbow.'"
"Shannon, her sister Tia, and I are all quite spiritual. While Shannon was unconscious, Tia and I were practicing Reiki. We believe that Shannon felt it."
