Savannah Solis spent nearly two weeks in a coma at JPS Health Network following a violent car crash that left her with a serious head injury.
Dr. Rick Miller, Chief Medical officer and Chief of Surgery at the health network, said the young patient’s case was discouraging because of the damage the accident caused. But the Trauma team and then the Intensive Care Unit doctors and nurses who took care of Solis never lost faith that they could make her better.
"We never gave up hope,” Miller said. “There was just a feeling that we did everything right and gave her the best chance to get better. You never can tell with a brain injury. Fortunately, young people have an incredible ability to rewire their brain and heal. It just takes time. So we waited…and waited.”
"The nurses were amazing. They took really good care of her. The nursing staff at JPS is absolutely excellent."
It took 10 days for her to regain consciousness, then weeks after that for Savannah to become fully alert.
“When I woke up, I was basically like a newborn baby,” Savannah recalled. “I couldn’t walk or talk or even feed myself. I had to learn to do everything all over again. I realized there are so many little things that we take for granted every day, and I appreciate all of those things so much more now than I did before.”
Solis said she can’t remember much about the fateful day of the accident, other than that it happened July 5, 2020 and she driving her car when it was struck by another vehicle in her door. A passerby took a photo of the mangled wreck, looked up the license plate on the internet, and contacted Savannah’s family.
Savannah’s mom, Angela Aurell, said it was excruciating being unable to come into the hospital to visit her daughter because of COVID-19 restrictions. She said she counted on nurses to help her check on her daughter through video conferencing.
“The nurses were amazing,” Aurell said. “They took really good care of her. The nursing staff at JPS is absolutely excellent.”
While she couldn’t speak when she regained consciousness, Solis was grateful that she could still write. She kept a note pad next to her bed on which she jotted notes to family and JPS team members. Her communications with nurses and techs helped Savannah form close relationships with her caregivers.
“Everybody was so nice,” Savannah said. “I remember that I really wanted to get outside, so one day they put me in a wheelchair and took me outside for a few minutes. That meant so much to me. Also, there was a tech who would color with me every day.”
The coloring helped Savannah, who was left weakened on one side of her body by her injuries, to regain her strength and fine motor skills.
“It was a slow process,” Savannah said about her recovery. “I had to learn to have patience. But, over time, I started to get things back. I’ve come so far. But I am still healing my brain and my body.”
She’s regained her ability to speak and is working on strengthening her voice. She is walking on her own. Now she’s set her sights on her next goal, being able to run again. Solis said she’s back at her job, but she’s remembering to take the time to enjoy the little things in life.
While she doesn’t recall most of her time in the hospital, Savannah has come to visit a couple of times to say thank you to the people that saved her life.
“I know I’ll never forget the first time she came to visit,” Miller said. “I was told someone wanted to see me, so I walked over. I immediately recognized her mom, but I didn’t recognize her at first. Then I realized that was because I’d never seen her upright before. As I put it together and figured out who she was, she reached out and gave me a monster hug. I’m not embarrassed to say that I just completely lost it. Bigtime tears.”