Sleeping pills may be waking Amy from coma (From The Argus)

Sleeping pills may be waking Amy from coma

12:01am Wednesday 31st October 2007

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A woman who has been in a coma for the past six years is slowly showing signs of recovery - after being given sleeping pills.

Amy Pickard was 17 when she slipped into a coma in 2001 - but now, after being given over-the-counter miracle pill Zolpidem, her devoted mum Thelma says the "old sparkle" has returned to her daughter's eyes.

Amy, who is the subject of BBC One documentary The Waking Pill' tonight, has been in a persistent vegetative state for the past six years after suffering severe brain damage after experimenting with heroin for the first time in July 2001.

Until last month she remained comatose in bed.

But now, barely four weeks after taking her first pill Amy, now 23, is slowly starting to show signs of recovery at the Raphael Medical Centre in Tonbridge, Kent, where her devoted mum visits her every day.

Speaking yesterday, Tuesday, mother-of-two Thelma, 54, of Hastings, said: "She is changing and it is amazing.

"When she takes the pill, I see her face relax and the old sparkle return to her eyes. It's incredible."

And two weeks ago Amy stood up - with support from two nurses - for the first time since she lost consciousness.

Amy, who was studying at Filsham Valley School in St Leonards when she was persuaded to inject the class A drug by her ex-boyfriend, is also focusing on objects and making voluntary noises rather than staring into space with few signs of life.

Her mum said: "She is using her eyes to focus and follow objects around the room instead of just staring. It truly is remarkable."

The 23-year-old, who has an older brother David, 27, is also reacting to food and drink - grimacing when given a lemon or something sour and smiling when given something sweet.

Before being given the miracle pill she was fed through a tube in her stomach.

And to the amazement of doctors Amy has even started breathing by herself instead of through a hole in her throat.

Amy is one of 360 people taking part in a worldwide revolutionary drugs trial which could see coma patients "miraculously" come back to life.

The remarkable side-effects of Zolpidem were first noticed in South Africa after 24-year-old Louis Viljoen suffered serious brain damage after being hit by a truck on his bike in 1994.

Doctors expected him to die and told his mother that he would never regain consciousness.

One doctor even described him as "a cabbage".

But, five years later in 1999, Louis was given Zolpidem - which is normally used as a quick fix for insomnia, sending patients to sleep within 15 minutes - after nurses spotted him involuntarily pulling at his mattress while in a coma.

They thought the drug would send him into a deep sleep and stop him moving around so much - but just 25 minutes after being given the first pill, he sat up and said: "Hello, mummy."

It was the first time he had spoken in five years.

Lucy Hughes, the ward sister who watched over Louis for his years in a coma, said: "I was told he was talking and I said it couldn't be - it wasn't possible.

"Then I heard him. His mother was speechless and so were we. It was a very emotional moment."

The family GP Wally Nel, who prescribed the sedative, added: "Something strange and wonderful is happening here and we have got to get to the bottom of it. It's remarkable."

Medics were baffled, and British firm ReGen Therapeutics is now leading research into the astonishing unexplained side-effects of Zolpidem.

Before Amy was given the revolutionary experimental treatment, her mum Thelma was flown to South Africa to meet other patients and see it in action.

Thelma said: "I had read about this drug and its reported effects, but I never dreamed Amy would get a chance to try it, so I didn't really think about it too much.

"When I was offered the chance to meet the scientists behind it, I couldn't believe my ears - and of course I jumped at the chance.

"I've had so many disappointments in my life, so I didn't set my expectations too high.

"When I came back from South Africa, I was exhausted, but the hope in my heart was intense.

"But the more I saw, the more I heard and the more I experienced, the more I realised Amy must try this new treatment."

Thelma admits she was nervous about her daughter becoming a drugs trial guinea pig - but insists it is proving worth the risk.

She said: "It's scary to think that I've let my daughter go on drugs trials. Part of me thinks, what mother in their right mind would ever let their daughter be part of an experiment?

"But I've been given a unique opportunity to see what this treatment could do for Amy, so how could I refuse?

Before jetting off to South Africa, Thelma was taken to the offices of Guildford Clinical Pharmacology, a British firm working for ReGen Therapeutics.

There she was shown three-dimensional brain scans, with neural activity highlighted in bright colour.

Thelma was shown how previously dark areas of the brain lit up after patients had taken Zolpidem.

She said: "The scientists did not refer to 'dead' sections of the brain, they called them 'dormant' areas. It was these areas that suddenly became active when the drug was taken."

Doctors are warning Thelma it could take months for a major breakthrough in her daughter's condition - but the hopeful mum says progress is already obvious.

"Her eyes are now focusing on things, she's more aware of her surroundings and she's making so much noise - almost forming actual words. It's remarkable.

"When I look at her now I can see the old Amy coming through, fighting to get out.

"It's a day-to-day waiting game to see what will happen next, but I just know she's going to speak any day.

"Every day she takes the tablet, it gives me more and more hope. My life is better now than it's ever been over the past six years."

Thelma added: "Amy is like me - feisty and determined. I know if the roles were reversed she would do what I'm doing, she would want me to try the pills, I know she would."

Only 360 people have taken part in the zolpidem tests worldwide, and significant success has been recorded in about 60 per cent of them so far.

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