RICHMOND, Va. -- A Hanover mother continues to fight at VCU Medical Center more than a month after she was seriously injured while outlet shopping.
A vehicle hit Trish Meyer head-on in the parking lot of the Williamsburg Premium Outlets on Saturday, Jan. 5 at 5:25 p.m.
Meyer's husband, Matt, was waiting for her in the car when he heard the impact.
"I’ll never forget the sound she was making -- a sort of gargling sound," Matt recalled.. "They told me her airway was collapsed and she was unconscious."
Police believe the driver was distracted while behind the wheel.
Trish, 57, was flown to VCU Medical Center with a serious head injury.
"The doctors told me on the 19th to get my affairs in order. They weren't sure she would survive," Matt remembered. "I had the chaplain come in and we prayed."
The mother spent 19 days in a coma while her husband continued to pray she would wake up. Days later, Trish had a breakthrough.
"I was sitting on the chair and one of the nurses said, 'Matt, come here.' I jumped up and ran around the right side of the bed," he said. "That’s when she opened her eyes and she looked at me and I lost it. I started crying."
Trish's memory slowly improves each and every day while she recovers in VCU Medical Center's brain injury rehabilitation program.
"Someday's she knows who I am -- and someday's she don’t know who I am," Matt stated. "We’ve been married nearly 13 years and to her we’ve only been married a year. She thinks the president is President George Bush sometimes."
Matt said Trish often believes their grown daughter is only one years old.
Sadly, Matt now faces his own challenges since the couple doesn't have medical insurance.
"Doctors told me when she comes home that someone has to be with her 24/7," he said.
Matt considers his wife a "miracle woman" after doctors originally believed she would die.
"Is there a reason this happened?" he asked. "No one knows other than God, and no one knows what he has in store."
He added, "God healed her and she’s my miracle woman."
Matt said his wife loves decorating her home, loves her family, daughter and God.
His coworkers have set up a GoFundMe if you'd like to help the couple with their mounting medical bills.
James City County Police said officers charged 25-year-old Angel Monee Himbry, of Newport News, with reckless driving in the incident.
Himbry did not respond to a request for comment. Her next court date is scheduled for March 12.
WTVR CBS 6 also reached out to the Williamsburg Premium Outlets for a comment, but as of Thursday night, we had not heard back.
