Texas bride celebrates ‘I’m alive’ after nightmare honeymoon in Japan left doctors fighting to keep her alive: ‘Back from the dead’

A woman who survived a life-threatening health crisis while on her honeymoon in Japan. Sarah Danh, who is now recovering in a hospital in Texas, has spoken about her terrifying experience for the first time after waking up from a coma.

Danh, a registered nurse at Methodist Hospital Stone Oak in San Antonio, was hospitalized 3 months ago, one day after touching down in Japan with her husband to celebrate their honeymoon. According to an article from People, the 27-year-old fell ill for unknown reasons and slipped into a coma. Doctors initially diagnosed Danh with acute liver failure among other health issues, which were described as serious.

Danh was flown back to Texas via an emergency medical evacuation flight on April 12, while she was still in a coma. She received financial help from her employers as well as supporters across the world; however, doctors prepared her family for the worst, warning that she may never regain consciousness due to having suffered “severe bilateral brain damage.”

Sarah Danh defied the odds

Despite the doctors’ predictions, Danh began to recover. Soon enough, she was no longer dependent on life support and was breathing on her own after almost three weeks in a coma. She even began walking again, and in May she was transferred to TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston, where she began physical and cognitive therapy.

Exactly three months after she first got sick, Danh has finally opened up about her experience in an Instagram post. It was the first post she shared since her wedding video before her health scare.

“First things first… I’m alive.” Her post began. “It feels bittersweet to finally be sitting here, able to tell this story myself.” She continued before thanking all the outlets that had helped to amplify her story. She also thanked those who had prayed for her and those who supported her financially with donations to the GoFundMe, which raised $187,000.

There were signs before Danh fell into a coma

Danh claimed that she had felt “under the weather” a few days before she flew out to Japan and was “convinced it was COVID.” However, her tests came back negative, even after a trip to the ER, where the tests were repeated; there were no signs of COVID or flu, but Danh says no bloodwork was done.

The next day, they departed for Tokyo, but Danh claims she remembers none of it. “Apparently I was already so weak from throwing up the whole flight that I could barely walk and could barely get through customs.” Things apparently got worse for her that night as she “started speaking complete nonsense,” and “turned yellow like a minion.”

She was rushed to hospital, where she was diagnosed with acute liver failure. However, doctors could not perform a transplant on a non-citizen, so the best they could do was get her to a stable enough state that she could survive the flight home.

Once back in Texas, the attention shifted from her liver to her brain as Danh was suffering from hepatic encephalopathy caused by the liver failure. It had also resulted in a brain injury, which doctors claimed meant she would likely never wake up.

“Then something incredible happened.” Danh wrote, “My liver slowly began healing itself. The swelling in my brain started going down.” On April 29, she woke up. Danh described how it “feels like I came back from the dead,” saying the experience has changed her and taught her how precious life is and not to take it for granted.