Sharista Giles was five months pregnant when she got into a car accident in December of 2014.
Doctors were able to prematurely deliver her baby, but the 20-year-old Tennessee resident had been in a coma since the accident. On Friday, she opened her eyes for the first time in four months and was able to finally see her baby.
Sharista Giles' aunt, Beverly Giles, told ABC news that doctors did not think her niece would wake from the coma any time soon.
"The doctors were telling us there was nothing else they could do," Giles said. "They already gave up hope. We never gave up. She's fought this hard."
Sharista was moved to the Harriman Care and Rehabilitation Center last month, Giles wrote on a Facebook page that chronicles her niece's recovery. On Wednesday, staff at the center contacted Sharista's family to tell them the good news.
"The whole place was packed out with family," Giles said.
Beverly Giles added that Sharista's dad showed his daughter a picture of the baby boy, who the family currently calls "Baby L," and she was responsive.
"He showed her a picture of her baby, and she followed the picture," Giles said. "When he turned around to put it back on the bulletin board, she turned her neck, her whole head trying to follow and find the picture again."
The child goes by the name of "Baby L" because the Giles want Sharista to be able to name the baby herself eventually.
"Baby L," Giles weighed less than two pounds at birth because she was born prematurely, but is now a healthier 6 pounds and 4 ounces. The boy is currently still in the neonatal intensive care unit at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, according to ABC News.
Sharista was also responsive in other ways. She blinked and squeezed the hands of multiple family members when prompted to. Doctors said it is still too soon to give a timetable of when she will be able to go home, though.
