Little Function
Six years after her coma began, Amy had not made much progress. In fact, it could be said that she made none. The entire period was spent lying on her assigned hospital bed. She initially fell unconscious in 2001, and since that time, she did not display many signs of activity. She could not eat, nor could she breathe without assistance. Machines at the hospital were keeping her alive and, it seemed as if her passing was imminent if she were ever taken off their support.
How It Began
Thelma describes Amy as ‘feisty and strong.’ This was so much so that Amy’s spirit is cited as a source of her mother’s strength. However, the trigger for the coma is where the strength was used for the wrong reason. At 17 years old, Amy got pregnant for her then-boyfriend. When she was 10 weeks pregnant, she experimented with the drug heroin. Her mother attributes this to her boyfriend’s getting her involved with a bad crowd, which influenced her behavior.