Munira Abdulla was 32 years old when she shielded her 4-year-old son, Omar, with her arms at the moment the car they were traveling in collided with a bus in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.
The impact left him almost unscathed. It cost her consciousness. Doctors spoke of a minimally conscious state, that place between sleep and absence where the body breathes but does not respond.
She went through hospitals in Al Ain, London, the United States, and finally Germany, while Omar grew up, became an adult, and continued visiting her without knowing whether she would ever recognize him.
In 2018, 27 years after the accident, Munira opened her eyes in that German hospital.
The doctor who treated her described the case as extremely rare because of the length of time that had passed. And among all the possible words, the first thing to come out of her mouth was her son’s name: Omar.