Teenage mother conscious again after 15-month coma

A Californian teenager who slipped into an apparently irreversible coma 15 months ago after undergoing emergency brain surgery has stunned doctors and delighted her family by fluttering back to consciousness.

Jessica Diaz, now 18, has become a media celebrity in Orange County, just south of Los Angeles, where her recovery has been hailed as a miracle. Her story is all the more alluring because she gave birth 24 hours before lapsing into a coma. With a brain tumour blinding her in one eye and obscuring her vision in the other, she was barely able to revel in the joy of giving birth before she was sent to the operating theatre. She slid into unconsciousness within 10 minutes of surgery.

Doctors told her family she would never recover, and that the baby would grow up without a mother. Over the past few days, however, Jessica has been able – with help – to hold and cuddle her son, Julio.

Doctors at the Tustin Hospital and Medical Centre believe her brain slowly became accustomed to the pressure inside her skull and developed new neurological pathways. They now want her to have aggressive physical, occupational and speech therapy, although it is not clear how much of a recovery she will make.

Having lost half her brain on the operating table, she cannot walk, talk or lift her arms. Interviewed briefly by a local television station at the weekend, she could respond to questions only by rolling her eyes once for "yes" and twice for "no".