Edwarda O'Bara (March 27, 1953November 21, 2012) was an American woman who spent 42 years in a

diabetic coma Diabetic coma is a life-threatening but reversible form of coma found in people with diabetes mellitus. Three different types of diabetic coma are identified: #Severe diabetic hypoglycemia, low blood sugar in a diabetic person #Diabetic ketoac ...

starting in January 1970 after contracting pneumonia in December 1969.

Early life and family

O'Bara was born in

Johnstown, Pennsylvania Johnstown is the largest city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,411 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located east of Pittsburgh, it is the principal city of the Metropolitan statistical area ...

, to Joe O'Bara and Kathryn "Kaye" McCloskey. She was named after Kaye's father Edward McCloskey, a mayor of the latter town during the 1930s. Joe was a halfback at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

in 1952, was the Middleweight Boxing champion for the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and went on to become a physical education teacher. Kaye was a high school math teacher. She also had a younger sister, Colleen.

Illness and care

O'Bara contracted

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

on December 20, 1969, at 16 years old. Her condition worsened over a period of two weeks and she was taken to a hospital. According to her family, at 3 a.m. on January 3, 1970, O'Bara "woke up shaking and in great pain because the oral form of insulin she had been taking wasn't reaching her blood stream". The date was significant for the family as it was her parents' 22nd wedding anniversary. Her family rushed her to the hospital, where she slipped into a diabetic coma. Before losing consciousness, Edwarda asked her mother, Kaye O'Bara, to never leave her side. She was fed from a tube and Kaye turned her from side to side every two hours to prevent bedsores. Kaye also read, played music, and made conversation with her. Her father Joe also gave up his job to care for her. By 2007, the costs of O'Bara's care had put her mother into debt by $200,000. Joe had a heart attack in 1972 and died in 1976 at the age of 50. Kaye died in 2008 at the age of 81. After Kaye's death, Edwarda continued to be cared for by her sister.

Death

O'Bara died at her home in

Miami Gardens, Florida Miami Gardens is a city in north-central Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is a suburb of Miami and located north of Greater Downtown Miami, downtown Miami with city boundaries that stretch from Interstate 95 in Florida, I-95 and N ...

on November 21, 2012, at the age of 59. Thousands of people from around the world subsequently visited the O'Bara family home.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obara, Edwarda 1953 births 2012 deaths Miami Norland Senior High School alumni People from Johnstown, Pennsylvania People from Miami People with disorders of consciousness People with severe brain damage People with hypoxic and ischemic brain injuries