In a coma for 7 months, woman recovers her life

Kertisha Brabson lost seven months of her life, but she has plenty of time to make up for it.

The 31-year-old mother of two is happy to be alive. She’s fortunate to be home with her children. And she’s hopeful, anxious and restless about getting back to her old self as a soccer mom and dental hygienist, back to the way it was before.

“I know nothing about those seven months,” she said from the living room of her home in Alliance, in northeastern Ohio, where she raises daughter, Diamonique,

12, and son, Perez, 5.

Brabson was in a coma for seven months after losing consciousness Sept. 7, 2018. In her mind, it’s as if she took a seven-month nap, with no memory of the lost time.

“We knew we couldn’t give up . ... she’s got two little ones waiting on her,” explained Brabson’s mom, Kertease Williams. “God’s hands were all over me, telling me what to do.”

Brabson’s medical ordeal began earlier in 2018. For months, she wasn’t feeling well and was fatigued. In early September, it got really bad. Her speech turned nonsensical.

She wound up being rushed to Alliance Community Hospital, then was moved to Aultman Hospital in Canton. Already in a comatose condition, Brabson was taken to Cleveland Clinic, where she was diagnosed with antiNMDA receptor encephalitis.

The form of encephalitis that struck Brabson is caused by a virus that makes the body’s immune system attack its own brain cells, leading to psychiatric symptoms, seizures and even cardiovascular complications.

Its cause remains unclear, though recent research is being conducted to determine a possible genetic link.

While in a coma, Brabson began having multiple seizures daily and was admitted, through her mother’s push for aggressive treatment, to Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center.

Wexner has a Neuro Critical Care Unit, where doctors worked on controlling the 10 seizures per day Brabson was experiencing and keeping her disease from worsening — all while she was still in a coma.

After about four months of treatment at Wexner, Brabson awoke from her coma in April.

Dr. Shraddha Mainali, an assistant professor of neurology and director of the neurovascular ultrasound lab at Ohio State, was thrilled.