When Christa Lilly – a Colorado woman who slipped into a coma over 6 years ago as a result of a heart attack and stroke – recently regained consciousness, she had doctors baffled. Although Ms. Lilly has since relapsed, doctors have labeled her unexplained return to consciousness a miracle.

This was not the first time Ms. Lilly awakened from her coma. Since falling into a vegetative state Lilly has been awake for a total of 12 days. Doctors have been unable to explain why Lilly is able to regain consciousness, or predict the next time she will awake.

Ms. Lilly's story brings to mind one of the most remarkable and highly publicized cases of a person in a long-term vegetative state. Terri Schiavo was starved to death in March of 2005 after a Florida judge ordered her feeding tube to be removed. Schiavo had been in a "persistent vegetative state" for years following a stroke, and while her family insisted she responded to their presence, doctors determined that she would likely never recover.

Doctors insist that Ms. Lilly's case was not as severe as Ms. Schiavo's. However, they still cannot explain the bouts of consciousness that Christa Lilly has had over the years. In an interview for Channel 11 KKTV, Lilly's neurologist, Dr. Randall Bjork, commented on Ms. Lilly's bizarre awakenings by saying that he "would predict this would publicize the minimally conscious and perhaps more reporting of the cyclical awakenings."

Lilly's mother – and primary caregiver – Minnie Smith, says she is thankful for any time she is able to spend with her daughter. "The good Lord let me know she's alright, he brings her back to visit every so often and I'm thankful for that," Smith said.