Family credits God working through doctors for mum’s miraculous recovery

A Brookwater mother has had a miraculous recovery after a minor surgery ended in disaster. This is what her family credits for getting her through.

Carmen James with her husband and children

A woman whose minor bingle when she tripped up the stairs almost killed her has revealed the one thing which kept her family going as they were told to say goodbye.

Faith. That was the first word out of Carmen James’ mouth when she woke from weeks in a coma and on life support and it was that faith that her family says saved her life.

In November last year, the 52-year-old Brookwater woman tripped up a set of stairs and injured her shoulder. The small incident would lead to months of torment for her and her family.

After continued pain, her doctor recommended a minor keyhole surgery on her rotator cuff and on May 22, Mrs James underwent that procedure.

She had quick overnight stay in hospital and Mrs James was home again, but the next day she began coughing up blood and eventually was struggling to breathe.

Keith and Carmen James.

In a matter of hours Mrs James was in the Intensive Care Unit at Ipswich Hospital where she was placed in an induced coma and life support.

Mrs James’s sister, Leanne Ollerenshaw, said she and Mrs James’s husband and children were told that she had suffered hospital-induced pneumonia and that they should prepare for the worst.

“There really wasn’t much hope. The doctors were telling us it didn’t look good and to prepare for the worst,” Ms Ollerenshaw said.

“They kept talking to us as if it were end of life care.”

Mrs James suffered a bilateral lung collapse and had high temperatures for days on end.

“Her lungs were white (in scans). A healthy lung should look black but hers were all white,” Ms Ollerenshaw said

“They had ice blankets on her for days at a time. I couldn’t even touch them with one finger, they were so cold and yet they were covering her.” 

But, miraculously, the collapse lungs resolved themselves, and Ms Ollerenshaw said even the doctors could not explain their rapid improvement.

“The first miracle we saw was when her lungs were no longer collapsed. First they were and then they weren’t,” she said.

“We don’t know what happened there, the doctors don’t know what happened.”

For Mrs James’ family, their faith was incredibly important and throughout the horrors of her month on life support, they say their faith is what carried them through.

“We kept in prayer and we were praying over her everyday,” Ms Ollerenshaw said.

“Everyone kept asking what they could do to help and we just said pray.

“There was a prayer chain that went as far as the Philippines and Italy.”

“It was really nothing more than a miracle, God was working through her doctors.”

Now, a month on from when she was put into the coma, Mrs James is awake and moving.

“The first word Mrs James said when she woke up was ‘faith’. I was the first person to hear her breathe which was incredible,” Ms Ollerenshaw said.

Carmen James with her husband and two children.

“I was playing her George Michael, because she loves him and she recognised it and my voice.”

Ms Ollerenshaw said her sister lost all her muscle mass during the ordeal and was now undergoing rigorous physiotherapy.

“She is doing two to three hours of physio a day and she is standing with the support of two people,” she said.

Mrs James’ employer and owner of Ray White Brookwater Avi Khan last week started a GoFundMe campaign for the family, in an effort to help ease the burden for the office’s “mama bear” manager.

“Keith (Mrs James’s husband) and both kids have had time off work, travelling back and forth from the hospital to be with Mrs James by her side,” Mr Kahn said.

“Mrs James was the heartbeat of our business, really.”

“I bought the business in December last year so I’ve only known her for five months but I’ve worked very closely with her in that time.”

Originally published as Family credits God working through doctors for mum’s miraculous recovery