Woman Wakes Up From 7 Month Coma After Family Told To 'Pull The Plug'

ALLIANCE, Ohio (CBS Local) -- An Ohio woman was in a coma for seven months due to a mysterious illness -- but her and her mother's fight for her survival led to a second chance at life.

Kertisha Brabson, 31, of Alliance fell into a coma in September 2018 after her mother noticed she was acting funny.

"Something has taken over and ruining my daughter," Kertease Williams told CBS affiliate WBNS. "I just don't know what."

At the hospital, Kertisha was doing strange things like reaching out for things that were not there, talking out of her head and dancing as if she was at a concert. Then a seizure put Kertisha in a coma that would last seven months.

Kertisha was diagnosed with Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, a disease where the body fights its own brain cells.

The doctors "told me she was brain-dead and pull the plug and all those things," said Kertease Williams, who said she was determined to save her daughter, who has two small children of her own.

"I don't have no doctor's background," Kertease said. "[I've] never been to school for anything, but when it's your child, you're going to do everything in your power to bring your daughter back."

Kertisha eventually ended up at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, where Dr. Shraddha Mainali and her team treated Kertisha's condition and seizures aggressively. After four months, she woke up on Apr. 7, 2019.

"Oh, my goodness, we just jumped up and down and screamed and nobody slept that morning," Kertease said.

To Kertisha, it was still September 2018.

"[The nurse] was like 'Yeah, Ms. Brabson, you've been asleep for seven months'," Kertisha said. "I was like 'Do my mom know?" she laughed.

This year, unlike last year, Kertisha was able to celebrate the holiday season at home with her mother, her daughter, Diamonique and her son, Perez.

"I am quite hopeful in her case that she's going to continue to do well and hopefully live a normal life," Dr. Mainali said.