Lexi Hansen wakes up

Lexi Hansen was hit by a car on the 26th of February while attending college at BYU.

When her brother, Tanner and his girlfriend arrived at Utah Valley Hospital they were greeted by a Social Worker who told them:

“Lexi has suffered a very traumatic brain injury and the extent of her injuries were still uncertain. He also explained that she was not breathing when the ambulance had arrived and had to be resuscitated at the scene.”

The Social Worker told them that Lexi had bleeding in the deep part of her brain and possibly on the upper layers of her brain as well. She also had a C2 fracture of her spinal cord and contusions to her lungs. He stated that everything was considered minor compared to the injuries to her brain.

The doctor explained that Lexi had experienced a shearing injury in the subarachnoid area of her brain, as well as bleeding in either the epidural or subdural area. They would not be able to operate as the injury was too deep in her brain and the damage had already been done. A shearing injury is when the neurons that carry electrical signals in your brain get sheared, or ‘cut-off,’ from each other. These are vital connections in our brain and they cannot be repaired once they are lost. After learning this news we asked if we should have the family members living out-of-state fly in. Travis’s response to this was a non-hesitant, ‘Of course,’ meaning they had not given Lexi a real chance of even making it through the night. Both Travis and the doctors kept asking when the soonest all the family could be here and how long would be needed to extend Lexi’s life.

The family was shown the results of her CT scan. The doctor’s pointed out little white specks on the CT and stated that these were the areas of ‘shearing.’ One us chimed in and asked what percent chance she had of coming out of this. He sighed and said, “One percent, maybe two. Maybe.”

He went on to explain how with brain injuries they can never truly know the severity of the outcome and if Lexi were to make it she may never walk or speak again. He said that many people who suffer brain injuries end up in a care center, never to be independent in functioning for the rest of their lives. (Of course doctors always give people the worst most hopeless news)

When Lexi came into the ER she had come in with a GCS (Glasgow Coma Scale) score of 3. (A GCS score is used to evaluate how conscious and responsive someone is after a traumatic brain injury).  He explained that patients that come in with a GCS score of 3 pretty much have zero chance. He also explained that Lexi had been displaying ‘decorticate’ and ‘deceberate’ posturing, and had even been transitioning back and forth between the two. Both signs of posturing indicate severe brain damage.

A Miracle

The family made their home at the hospital and continued round the clock prayer and fasting for Lexi.

On Sunday with two family members in the room, Lexi opened her eyes.

“We ran to get the rest of the family that was in the waiting room. With us all together, we decided to shut the door and sing hymns to her to invite the spirit as we had done before. We sang hymns like, “Be Still My Soul,” “Abide With Me,” “I Need Thee Every Hour.” While were singing, Lexi had completely opened her eyes and was looking at each of us surrounding her at her bed.While we were singing, she hand signed I love you, moving her arm around so that everyone could see. She then reached for each person’s hands individually so she could squeeze them.”

On Monday they removed the breathing tube. Remember I’ve written many times the ventilator’s are our friends when we are severely injured.

On Friday she was moved from the ICU to a Neurology Rehab Unit of a hospital.

Everyday Lexi is improving.

Marcia Hansen said her daughter’s improvement has far exceeded her doctor’s expectations.

“We know that it was a miracle. We absolutely know that. We know that God’s hand was in it,” she said, adding that her daughter’s doctors were amazed. “They tell us all the time she’s a miracle and ‘you have a higher power working for you because she shouldn’t be here.’ She had zero percent chance of making it when she came in and then 1 percent. They weren’t even going to stitch up her face.” ABC News watch the video.

What we can learn from Lexi:

1) The doctors who champion “brain death” will say the doctors in Utah made a mistake. Rather than admit someone wakes up from brain death,they always “blame the tests” when someone wakes. “No one wakes up from brain death they say”.

2) We can see that even with a Glasgow Coma scale of 3 and a high C2 spine injury she woke up and is alive.

Jamie was at a 7 GCS when he was brought to Vanderbilt and he had a high C5-6 spinal cord injury.

3) Most Level 1 trauma centers would have already been talking about organ donation. If you child was a donor they would have told you, “As you can see, your daughter is an organ donor”.

4) The Organ donation industry is BIG business and they don’t want to give the patient time to wake up. I’m so glad for the advice I got years ago from Ft Lauderdale lawyer for injuries Wolf & Pravato, they woke me up to these insidious facts.

There is a Facebook page Prayers for Lexi if you want to follow her progress along.

Exerts from Amanda story, Lexi’s brother’s girlfriend who is in nursing school.

You can read the entire story of Lexi’s miracle there.

As I follow along on this success story I know one day I will see a photo of Lexi back on her long board.