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 These dramatic pictures show a student in critical condition before a miraculous recovery. 
 
 Law graduate Sam Hemming has been dubbed a ‘walking miracle ’ after she wiggled her toe moments before doctors switched off her life-support machine. 
 
 She was left in a coma after suffering severe brain injuries in an horrific motorway crash . 
 
 Medics told her family there was nothing they could do to save the 22-year-old and said she had no hope of recovery. 
 
 Sam’s parents gathered at her hospital bedside to say farewell after agreeing that her life-support machine could be switched off. 
 
 (Image: SWNS) 
 
 But moments before the apparatus was disconnected, she wiggled her big toe when a medic accidentally brushed it with an ice-cold wipe. 
 
 Stunned surgeons carried out a tracheotomy and Sam was able to breathe on her own - and eight weeks later was back home. 
 
 Mum Carol, who took a heartbreaking photograph of her daughter as she lay the coma, said: “It was amazing. 
 
 “She had literally came back from the dead. If she hadn’t wiggled her toe she wouldn’t be here today.” 
 
 (Image: SWNS) 
 
 Sam, who hopes to become a solicitor, said: “When I look at the pictures of me in the coma it seems unreal. 
 
 “And when I hear that my toe saved me, it’s amazing. I’m hugely grateful to all the medical staff who have helped me.” 
 
 Sam’s boyfriend Tom Curtis, 21, was driving her home to Credenhill, Hereford, when they crashed on the M6 in July. 
 
 (Image: SWNS) 
 
 The car flipped over and careered into the metal central reservation barrier, leaving her seriously injured. 
 
 Sam was airlifted to University Hospital Coventry , where surgeons battled to save her life. 
 
 She underwent three operations, as well as having metal plates inserted into her arm which suffered three fractures. 
 
 (Image: SWNS) 
 
 Sam also broke four bones in her neck and her family were warned to prepare themselves for the worse. 
 
 The talented athlete was put into a chemically-induced coma but showed no improvement after 19 days. 
 
 Doctors said she was brain dead and advised Carol, 44, and her dad Jason, 43, to switch off her life-support machine. 
 
 (Image: SWNS) 
 
 (Image: SWNS) 
 
 Carol said: “The doctors told us it was time to say goodbye. We gathered in her room and said our farewells.” 
 
 Medics said they would switch the machine off three times to give Sam a final chance to breathe and check her responses. 
 
 After showing no signs of brain activity, they carried out a final ‘hot and cold’ test - which again showed no response. 
 
 (Image: SWNS) 
 
 They then decided to switch it off for a fourth and final time and allow the Bangor University graduate to die. 
 
 It was then that a medic accidentally brushed the wipe on her right foot, making her big toe wiggle - a sign of brain activity. 
 
 Carol said: “The doctors did the hot and cold tests on Sammy about four times a day but they were always negative. 
 
 (Image: SWNS) 
 
 (Image: SWNS) 
 
 “They’d done the tests the day they were going to turn her life support off for the last time and the results showed there was no brain activity. 
 
 “Then a member of staff brushed her toe with the ice-cold wipe and it wiggled. 
 
 “She was responding to heat so there was still some brain function. The computer showed some brain activity. 
 
 (Image: SWNS) 
 
 “It’s amazing because the only time the tests showed a positive result was when the ice-cold wipe brushed on her toe by accident. 
 
 “No one knows why all the other tests were negative but brain injuries are complex and unpredictable. 
 
 “They gave Sammy a tracheotomy and five days later when they turned her life support off she breathed on her own. 
 
 (Image: SWNS) 
 
 (Image: SWNS) 
 
 “Doctors are totally in shock. You see the surgeons, paramedics and police look at Sammy and you see their mouths fall open.” 
 
 Despite suffering head injuries which left one side of her brain ‘dead’, 
 
 the other part of her brain which is not normally used was undamaged. 
 
 Amazingly, the undamaged side of her brain developed in such a way Sam has been able to learn how to walk and talk again. 
 
 (Image: SWNS) 
 
 Carol said: “Sammy shouldn’t be alive. She suffered the worst injuries anyone could have in a car crash. 
 
 “Her head smashed through the window and hit the central reservation and took her left ear off and she was knocked her out. 
 
 “Why her condition is different to other people is the part of the brain which most people don’t use has developed into speech and movement. 
 
 “That is why all the neurosurgeons were getting so excited as it is very rarely seen. 
 
 “Because of the steps she has taken, she is a walking miracle. Doctors are totally in shock. 
 
 (Image: SWNS) 
 
 “One doctor told me that Sam does have brain damage and is going to need care. 
 
 “But they said she shouldn’t be talking and she shouldn’t be able to take the steps she has as that part of her brain is dead. 
 
 “The paramedic who was at the scene and stayed with her right from the beginning said to me, ‘She’s not supposed to be alive.’ 
 
 (Image: SWNS) 
 
 “It’s slow progress but Sam is determined to get better and wants to practice law. 
 
 “She has already beaten huge odds to be here today so there’s no reason why she shouldn’t amaze us all again.” 
 
 Sam now undergoes daily physiotherapy while doctors work to help her brain develop more functions. 
 
 (Image: SWNS) 
 
 She said: “I can’t remember the crash at all but I know I was coming home at the time. I can remember graduating and that’s it really. 
 
 “I can walk in short bursts and I have a walking frame and wheelchair to help me when I’m feeling weaker. 
 
 “My talking is fine and I just want to get better now. 
 
 “Before the accident I wanted to be a solicitor and that ambition hasn’t changed. I still want a career in law.” ||||| Sam Hemming, 22, suffered horrific head injuries when the car she was travelling in flipped over on a motorway 
 
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 A STUDENT left in a coma following a horror car crash has been dubbed a “walking miracle” after she wiggled her TOE just moments before doctors planned to turn off her life-support machine. 
 
 Law graduate Sam Hemming, 22, suffered horrific head injuries when the car she was travelling in flipped over on a motorway. 
 
 SWNS:South West News Service 8 Sam Hemming was in the car with Tom Curtis when he crashed on the motorway 
 
 SWNS:South West News Service 8 The 21-year-old recently graduated with a degree in Law from Bangor University 
 
 She was airlifted to hospital and underwent a gruelling six hour operation before doctors placed her in a medically-induced coma. 
 
 After 19 days doctors advised her devastated parents to switch off her life-support machine after she was confirmed brain dead – with no hope of recovery. 
 
 A distressing picture of Sam in her hospital bed was taken by mum Carol, 44, as she prepared to say goodbye to her daughter. 
 
 Schoolboy in coma after falling 20ft from a cliff at Cullercoats in North Tyneside 
 
 But incredibly, moments before doctors prepared to switch off her life support, Sam "wiggled her big toe" - leading medics to keep her in a controlled coma. 
 
 Days later she was given a tracheotomy and when her life-support machine was turned off again, she was able to breathe on her own. 
 
 SWNS:South West News Service 8 Sam was in a medically induced coma for 19 days before doctors recommended turning off her life support 
 
 Remarkably, just eight weeks later she was deemed well enough to return home in Credenhill, Hereford, where she now lives with mum Carol and dad Jason, 43. 
 
 Despite suffering head injuries which left one side of her brain "dead", the other part of her brain - which is not normally used - was undamaged. 
 
 Amazingly, the undamaged side of her brain developed in such a way that Sam was able to learn how to walk and talk again. 
 
 Mum Carol said: "Sammy shouldn't be alive. She suffered the worst injuries anyone could have in a car crash. 
 
 "Her head smashed through the window and hit the central reservation and took her left ear off and she was knocked her out. 
 
 "She was in the coma and after 19 days the doctors told us it was time to say goodbye. We gathered in her room and said our farewells. 
 
 SWNS:South West News Service 8 Doctors were about to turn off her life support when Sam wiggled her toe 
 
 SWNS:South West News Service 8 Only one side of Sam's brain was damaged - allowing her to make an incredible recovery 
 
 "They turned the life support machine off and I screamed. She wasn't breathing on her own. 
 
 "They turned the life support back on and over the next few days the doctors tried turning if off two more times. 
 
 "They usually give a patient three attempts to see if they can breathe on their own before switching if for good and letting the patient die but before they switched it off for a final time one of her specialists said her big toe wiggled. 
 
 "She was responding to heat so there was still some brain function. They gave her a tracheotomy and five days later when they turned her life support off she breathed on her own. 
 
 She added: "It was amazing. She had literally come back from the dead. If she hadn't wiggled her toe she wouldn't be here today. 
 
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 "Doctors are totally in shock. You see the specialised surgeons, paramedics and police and they look at Sammy and you see their mouths fall open. 
 
 "Why her condition is different to other people is that the part of the brain which most people don't use - hers has developed into speech and movement. 
 
 "That is why all the neurosurgeons were getting so excited as it is very rarely seen. 
 
 "Because of the steps she has taken, she is a walking miracle." 
 
 Sam, who got a 2:1 in Law from Bangor University, was getting a lift with her boyfriend to Birmingham New Street station on her way back to her Hereford home when he crashed on the M6 on July 20. 
 
 The car flipped over and she smashed her head on the metal central reservation leaving Sam with devastating head injuries. 
 
 Boyfriend Tom Curtis, 21, escaped with minor injuries but Sam was airlifted to University Hospital Coventry where surgeons battled to save her life. 
 
 SWNS:South West News Service 8 Sam's mother Carol said doctors hailed her recovery as a 'miracle' 
 
 SWNS:South West News Service 8 Sam now undergoes daily physiotherapy and is being treated for PTSD 
 
 Sam underwent three operations, as well as having metal plates inserted into her arm, which suffered three fractures. 
 
 She also broke four bones in her neck and her family were warned to prepare themselves for the worse. 
 
 Carol, who has three other children, Tim, 24, Callum, 15, and Nikkita, 14, added: "It was horrible seeing one of your kids lying in a bed with so many injuries because everything above her chest was injured. 
 
 "I never cried so much in my life." 
 
 Carol, who has given up her job to care for Sam full-time, added: "A doctor told me that Sam does have brain damage and is going to need care but that she shouldn't be talking and she shouldn't be able to take the steps she has as that part of her brain is dead. 
 
 "The paramedic who was at the scene and stayed with her right from the beginning said to me 'she's not supposed to be alive,'. 
 
 SWNS:South West News Service 8 Sam hopes to be able to practice law in the future 
 
 "It's slow progress but Sam is determined to get better and wants to practice law. 
 
 "She's already beaten huge odds to be here today so there's no reason why she shouldn't amaze us all again." 
 
 Sam now undergoes daily physiotherapy and is being treated for post traumatic stress disorder while doctors work to help her brain develop more functions.
– A chance glance and a big toe saved a 22-year-old woman's life in the UK, the London Times reports. Sam Hemming, a law school graduate of North Wales' Bangor University, was being driven home to Hereford by her boyfriend, Tom Curtis, in July when they got into an accident, per the Mirror: The car flipped, and while Curtis wasn't badly hurt, Hemming was left with broken neck bones, a fractured arm, and severe head injuries, leading doctors to place her in a medically induced coma, the Sun notes. After 19 days, the doctors said hope was gone, and Hemming's family gathered to say their goodbyes. Doctors said they'd switch her life support off and on three times before turning it off for good, just to make sure there was no brain activity—and as they prepared to switch it off for the final time, a medic brushed against her big toe with an icy-cold wipe and her toe wiggled. Doctors gave her a tracheotomy, and a few days later when they turned the life support off again, she could breathe on her own. The second part of Hemming's story: Doctors didn't think she'd ever walk or talk again, though now she's doing both as she recuperates at her parents' home. Even though Hemming suffers from PTSD and has memory loss, doctors are hopeful they can keep boosting her brain function, per the Hereford Times. "When I look at the pictures of me in the coma, it seems unreal," Hemming says. "And when I hear that my toe saved me, it's amazing." (A college student in a coma gave his mom a Christmas "miracle.")