I still have terrifying nightmares after being trapped in my own body during a medically-induced coma

Many people desperately want to know if their loved ones can hear them when they’re in a coma.

According to one woman who was in a medically-induced sleep for three days, not only was she able to hear what those around her were saying, but she was also able to feel all the procedures that doctors were doing to her.

Toyosi Adeneye, 30, from Calgary, Alberta in Canada, laid bare her harrowing experience exclusively with the Daily Mail.

Toyosi, who goes by the pseudonym Dorothy Tuash online and is part of the duo known as The OT Love Train, explained that when she was giving birth in July, she suffered from a scary complication that led to her developing sepsis and needing to be put into a medically-induced coma.

‘Due to cervical incompetency, I had preterm labor at 23 weeks gestation and they had to perform an emergency dilation and evacuation on me,’ she recalled. 

‘It was discovered that I had developed chorioamnionitis which led to me also developing sepsis. 

‘They had to put me into a coma in order to administer treatment and save my life.’

She was in the coma for three-and-a-half days during which time she said there were moments when she was fully conscious and could ‘hear clearly’ – even being able to see when the doctors would open her eyes to administer drops.

But she wasn’t able to move or communicate, which left her in a constant ‘state of panic.’ 

‘I had moments where I was conscious and could hear clearly – I could even hear my nurses talking about me,’ she shared.

‘When they opened my eyes to administer eye drops, I could see. I just couldn’t communicate that to anyone. 

‘I will never forget how I felt. I was in a state of panic because I didn’t know why exactly I was in a coma as the last thing I remembered was being sedated in the operating room.’

But the worst part was the fear that they might turn off her life support at any moment.

‘I didn’t know how bad or how good my progress was, how long I had been in the coma for or how long I would be there,’ she continued.

‘I was also looking for my husband and I was upset I couldn’t communicate with him. I was scared because I wasn’t sure if they were going to turn off my life support. I was anxious throughout the entire experience.’

According to Cleveland Clinic, a coma is a ‘deep unconscious state where you can’t wake up or respond, even to pain or loud sounds.’

The publication notes that ‘it’s possible’ to hear during a coma, adding, ‘Some people in a coma can hear what’s happening around them and even remember parts of it later.’

Toyosi recalled going in and out of consciousness and feeling ‘trapped in her own body.’

‘Every time [I came to] I would get really anxious, I would black out and then suddenly come to again. It was a horrible cycle,’ she continued.

In addition, she felt immense ‘pain and discomfort’ as doctors and nurses pricked her with needles and IVs. 

Unable to make any real noise, she said she was forced to ‘scream on the inside.’ 

‘One time a nurse thought my neck wasn’t straight so she tried to adjust it and then she accidentally bent it and it started aching,’ she remembered.

‘I also heard a nurse say the doctor asked her to tape my eyes shut and I was screaming inside because when my eyes were slightly open, I could see a little bit and that was my only portal to the outside world.’

Toyosi had ‘no concept of time’ and said it felt like she spent ‘months in coma,’ when in reality, it was just three days.

She recalled feeling a ‘huge relief’ when she finally came out of the coma.

‘I suddenly came to but this time, I could move my body slightly. I was so excited to see my husband. I was also happy to be able to breathe by myself again,’ she dished.

But her road to recovery was far from over as she had to relearn how to walk, breathe, and talk normally again.

Now, two months later, Toyosi said she’s doing much better, but admitted that her mental health is still impacted by the terrifying ordeal.

‘Unfortunately, I had nightmares when I first came home from the whole experience but that’s all in the past now,’ she admitted. 

‘I am in such a good place now, focused on continuing to build myself and my career. I’m doing way better than I was but grief still shows its face from time to time.’