Sarah Danh, a 27-year-old San Antonio labor and delivery nurse, is breathing on her own after being medically evacuated from her Japan honeymoon last week and undergoing transplant surgery following her return home on April 21. A family member said Thursday night that Danh is no longer on life support and has been able to wiggle her toes, move her arms and take a few small steps with assistance.
Danh fell ill without warning two days after arriving in Japan with her husband, Luke Gradl. Doctors there later diagnosed her with sudden liver failure, and an MRI after she returned to the United States showed she had suffered a stroke while in Japan.
The latest update came from Khang Le, who has been sharing details of Danh’s condition with family supporters. Le said her condition has been improving each day and that she is physically getting stronger, but he also said she is still far from being able to do basic things such as taking a sip of water, eating, controlling her fingers, opening her mouth or saying any words. Her memory, he said, seems to come and go.
The progress is notable because medical staff had warned that Danh might not wake up or regain normal function. A second MRI taken one day later suggested some of the damage may be reversible, but the source close to the family says the stroke is believed to have caused severe bilateral brain damage. Danh has also been able to express discomfort, sadness and happiness, and she smiles, cries and even giggles when Le says silly things to get a reaction from her.
The family says she still has a long road ahead. Once she is transferred out of the ICU, she will need physical and cognitive therapy, and the next stage of recovery will test how much of the recent improvement can be sustained. For now, the sarah danh recovery update is a rare sign of movement after what Le called devastating news, and the steps she took Thursday are the first clear evidence that her body is answering back.
