Local writer’s remarkable story of waking up from a coma
After suffering a traumatic brain injury as a young woman, Pheasant Orpen Reid had to start over. She has written a book about her story and her experiences.
When Pheasant Orpen Reid was 19 she was in her third year at technikon, studying equestrian science.
One day in February 1999, when she was working in the stable yard with a particularly nervous horse, they came upon some dogs and although she can only speculate about what happened next, one thing is for sure, that was the day her whole life changed.
Pheasant was thrown from her horse and kicked on her way down. One of the dogs went to fetch the farmer, who found her unconscious.
She was taken to hospital and placed in ICU. This young woman had four skull fractures and four brain haemorrhages and many other broken bones. She was comatose for a month.
After she woke up, they kept her under observation for another day and then sent her home.
However, she could remember nothing. She did not know who she was, how she came to be in the hospital or who the people taking her home, calling themselves her parents, were. Reluctant and scared, she got into their car and went home with them.
She remembers waking up screaming in bed when she first got home. She says she did not know why she was screaming until her mother gave her some ice – she was thirsty but did not know how to tell anyone.
One day while driving with her dad, her memories started coming back to her, and eventually she remembered everything, but still she was a changed woman.
Pheasant decided in 2008 to start writing a book about her experiences but it was only in the last year that she actually sat down and finished it. The book is a mixture of the experiences she and her mother had, the six weeks it took her to remember who she was and the journey after that.
Her mother wrote diary entries while Pheasant was ill and these entries together with Pheasant’s own personal experiences make up the beginning of the book entitled Head Lines – Rebuilding a Brain.
Pheasant said she remembers floating above her body while she was in the coma. She remembers seeing herself and her loved ones, but not being able to wake up.
She explained what the goal of her book is – “I want to reach people who are struggling with the same kind of problem. There are so many people with brain injuries across the world, and so few resources and stories to help them understand and cope.”
For her, running made the difference. After she had learned how to walk again, she started running. She believes the extra oxygen helped speed up the healing process.
Pheasant’s book is published by an American company called Balboa Press. You can buy her book on their website, www.balboapress.com. It is available as a hard cover, soft cover or e-book.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at krugersdorpnews@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.
For free daily local news on the West Rand, also visit our sister newspaper websites
Remember to visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages to let your voice be heard!
