A man who was in a coma for 6 months was provided with some heartbreaking information after he woke up…
John Pennington was in a coma for 6 months after suffering a severe brain injury.
But, as much as it was a relief for those around Pennington to see that he had defied doctors expectations, there was some hard news they had to break…
Pennington opened up about his experience of waking up from a coma in an interview with MEL Magazine.
In the interview, Pennington recalled that when he woke up from 6 months in a coma, he thought he had to get up for work.
“I woke up thinking it was the next day, and I was getting up to go to work,” he said. “But for some reason, my arms and legs were tied down.”
Pennington said that he began to panic before “realizing I was in a hospital” at which point he “pressed the ‘call nurse’ button on the bed.”
Pennington explained that “the man on the other side seemed annoyed” and asked his name “in a very aggressive manner.”
However, he later found out that the man “didn’t believe it was me speaking to him, because I wasn’t supposed to be able to talk — let alone be conscious.”
Once a nurse entered his room, Pennington said that she “walked around as if I was unconscious” until “she looked into the netting they had over my bed, we met eyes.”
“Having regained my composure a bit, I said to her, “Hello, can you untie me so I can use the restroom?,” he said, at which point the nurses eyes filled with tears, “her mouth went wide before she covered it with her hand and she ran out of the room.”
Her reaction led Pennington to think he might have killed someone.
He went on the explain to the outlet that when the nurse “came back, she apologized and explained that I had been in a coma due to a very severe traumatic brain injury, and apparently, the neurologist said if I did eventually wake up, I wouldn’t be able to do much of anything.”
But fortunately, Pennington had defied the odds…
He eventually spoke with a neurologist who explained the injury and highlighted just how lucky Pennington was.
“He said that someone had just hit the Megabucks lottery for a whole lot of money around that time, but that guy wasn’t a tenth as lucky as I was to have regained full consciousness,” he said.
For 2 years following, Pennington “underwent intensive rehab at the Nevada Community Enrichment Program, or NCEP, learning how to function as an adult while dealing with the disabilities that suffering from a traumatic brain injury brings.”
He told the outlet that he “didn’t understand it very well at the time, but after going through rehab and seeing others way worse off than I was, I understood a lot better that my doc was right — I am a very lucky man.”
He also said that it was a “lonely place to be coming out of a coma.”
“I had some friends come by, but not nearly enough. The loneliness I experienced was horrible.”
Since the interview with MEL Magazine, Pennington has taken to Reddit’s Ask Me Anything.
On there, he introduced himself, explained the incident that happened back in 2015 and invited people to ask him questions “about waking up from a coma, traumatic brain injuries, and any other questions you might have.”
On there, Pennington has received hundreds of questions about his situation.
One person asked: “Was your employer surprised when you finally showed up?”
Answering the question, Pennington said: “I wouldn’t say surprised. They have been great and have been with me every step of the way. I couldn’t be luckier!”
And his sister joined in adding: “His employer was amazing. They kept his insurance active and paid for an entire year. A few of his bosses and the vice president of the company would regularly visit him. Take his clothes home to wash them. I couldn’t say enough amazing things about the support they gave John before and during this time. Even still today, they are one of his biggest supporters.”
But, one of the questions that Pennington was asked revealed that he was given some heartbreaking information when he woke from the coma.
One person asked Pennington: “What were some of the biggest surprises you learned about after being in a coma for a half year, whether it be in your personal life or going on in the news?”
Pennington then revealed that when he woke up from the coma he was informed that his father had sadly committed suicide.
“My father committing suicide was the biggest shock,” he wrote in response. “Everything else I carried the attitude that I’ll deal with it. Losing my father was the toughest thing. Not the car, not my place, not my computer, but My Pops.”
The Reddit user then responded to Pennington: “Omg I’m so sorry that’s absolutely awful. I hope you and he had some memorable moments to cherish forever.”
“I do. I still celebrate his birthday and buy him a cake. My fat a** eats it, but I even serve his slice on his plate. My slice on mine.” He later added: “There were some other issues going on as well. My little sister was addicted to M*th at the time and wasn’t paying the rent when my father as giving her the money to pay. It was going to the dope dealer. They were going to be evicted. Thinking about everything hew as going through, and being an old man at that time, I can see how the strongest man I ever knew took his own life.
“He was the only man that could.”