COMA MUM'S MIRACLE FIGHTBACK

Tricia Powell who fell into a coma last year after contracting a life-threatening virus has returned to Bahrain after making a remarkable recovery.

She is now planning her future and making arrangements to tie the knot with her beloved fiance, Theunis Strydom.

GulfWeekly readers rallied round to help the stricken 32-year-old after her plight was featured in this newspaper to help pay for her to be flown for specialist treatment in South Africa.

Medical expert Dr Frans Theron has been so staggered by her astonishing fight back to good health he believes 'divine intervention' has played a part.

GRITTY Tricia Powell, who fought back against all the odds after being struck down by a killer virus, has sent a heartfelt message to GulfWeekly readers who rallied round to offer help, support and prayers to her as she battled for life in a coma.

Tricia, who has a 10-year-old son, was diagnosed as suffering from an extremely rare strain of viral encephalitis - an acute inflammation of the brain where the immune system stops functioning - which she picked up in South America whilst on assignment for a Bahrain-based events company.

She said: "I have returned to Bahrain to thank all my well-wishers for their prayers and help and to get a closure on all that has happened with me in this past year.

"To me this is a happy ending to a case that seemed hopeless at the time. It is now time for me to move on," said an emotional Tricia sitting at her boyfriend Theunis Strydom's apartment in Juffair.

Tricia's plight was highlighted in GulfWeekly and the newspaper launched a fund-raising community campaign as she lay stricken at Ibrahim Khalil Kanoo Medical Complex.

Her family and friends appealed for support to help pay BD12,000 medical evacuation fees needed to take her back to South Africa where her family could provide care, support and arrange specialist treatment.

A trust fund was set up to cover the costs and GulfWeekly readers and well-wishers from all over the world contributed.

Tricia spent almost six months in Bahrain drifting in and out of a coma before being evacuated on September 4, 2008, to M Care, a specialist private medical facility in Nelspruit, South Africa.

Tricia needed to be taken by stretcher because she was so unwell.

"Once settled at M Care, Tricia's initial prognosis was not good. The family were required to attend a meeting with her doctor and his team of rehabilitation specialists every Thursday afternoon and each meeting seemed to be less positive. At one stage we were even discussing the purchase of an electric wheelchair and admitting Tricia to a frail care home," said Flash Powell, Tricia's father, in South Africa.

At this stage Tricia was still being fed via tubes in her stomach, had a trachea in her neck to assist her breathing and was confined to a wheelchair. She was recovering, albeit very slowly.

"Although Tricia was moving forward in terms of her recovery we did not know where it would end," said Theunis, 38, a senior account manager with Bahrain ad agency Everythingville, who would regularly travel from the kingdom to visit Tricia in Nelspruit.

According to Tricia she has no recollection of most of 2008. "My last memory was when I returned from my business trip to South America, Hong Kong and England and Theunis travelling to South Africa on February 29.

"Then I remember the second week of December when my parents took special permission from the doctors to take me to my brother's 21st birthday celebration," said Tricia.

That day proved to be the turning point in Tricia's life. "I felt vulnerable and self-conscious. Deep down inside, my dependency on people around me just knocked me out. My son Ryan saw me in that state and I couldn't take it. I just knew that I had to come out of it for my son and my family," she explained.

From that day on Tricia refused to be fed by tubes and started fighting back and recovered in leaps and bounds. By the end of January 2009, Tricia was released from the hospital.

"I was eating, going to the bathroom independently and walking with a tripod," said Tricia.

Her iron-willed determination allowed her to learn to eat again, use her limbs, walk and eventually be totally independent.

Her recovery has baffled medical specialists in South Africa. The only reminder of her illness is that Tricia's left leg and knee doesn't bend easily and her hands are slowly regaining their strength with daily physiotherapy. Dr Theron, a physician specialist at M Care in Nelspruit, said: "Tricia has defied my 40 years of medical experience and knowledge and I truly believe there had to have been a divine intervention."

Tricia has returned to Bahrain to see if there is still a future for her here. She is trying to piece her life back together bit by bit and is searching for a job before Ryan joins her at the start of the new school term.

"Ryan's previous school, the British School of Bahrain, has been very accommodating and have said that a place is available for him in September."

Throughout her illness and rehabilitation ordeal Theunis has offered Tricia rock solid support. Even in times when Tricia was unsure of his love Theunis was there to reassure her. They plan to tie the knot this year.

"I often questioned why all of this happened to me but then in the same breath I thank God for my recovery and the amazing support system I have had in my family, friends, Ryan, Theunis and his family," said Tricia.

"This entire incident has taught me to focus more on my family which is why I'm looking for a career that is not very demanding and keeps me close to my loved ones."

At the time of Tricia's evacuation, Flash predicted in GulfWeekly that Tricia was a stubborn and determined woman and that she would come back to Bahrain one day to prove to everyone that her illness was just a hiccup in her life.

And she has done exactly that.

Mariam Jacob a volunteer at Ecumenical Conference of Charity (ECC) was surprised when she received a thank you call and visit from Tricia.

"I was out of the office and when I returned my colleague told me that Tricia Powell had called. My first question was how did Tricia make the call herself?"

Mariam and other ECC volunteers saw Tricia on several occasions in hospital in Bahrain and contacted the offices of GulfWeekly after reading articles about her plight.

ECC, which is registered under the St. Christopher's Cathedral, donated a sum towards Tricia's evacuation as part of their charitable efforts in the community.

Mariam said: "Tricia was in an extremely frail condition when we first visited her. She was connected to tubes and was totally unresponsive.

"I couldn't believe that this was the same Tricia sitting in front of me. She has made an amazing recovery and we were very happy to see her.

"Tricia's name was on our prayer request list on the church bulletins.

"I believe that the power of prayers, her strong will and her family support has helped her make a complete recovery."