London, Ont. woman awakens from medically-induced coma days before wedding

Two weeks ahead of her wedding day, Sarah Kempinska remembered the scary moment when she was unable to breathe.

Following a routine surgery for an auto-immune condition called granulomatosis with polyangiits (GPA), her condition quickly began to deteriorate.

“I’ve had breathing issues since 2015 when I was first diagnosed,” said Sarah.

GPA is a rare disorder that causes constricted blood flow and led to Sarah suffering from breathing issues. She needs surgery every couple of years.

“About two weeks before my wedding I had a routine surgery to widen my airway,” said Kempinska. “It was expected to be a quick recovery, but unfortunately things didn’t quite go as planned.”

While recovering at home, she said would force a breath but heard a “pop sound.”

She immediately called her sister Anna, who is an emergency department physician at London’s Children’s Hospital. She was taken to the critical care and trauma centre at London Health Sciences Centre.Sarah Kempinska awoke from a medically-induced coma four days before her June 3, 2023 wedding. (Source: Sarah Kempinska)

“As a medical professional you always know on the medical side of things and you’re usually in control of what’s going on,” said Dr. Anna Kempinska. “But it’s a different ball game when it’s a family member.”

Sarah was then placed into a medically-induced coma.

Doctors didn’t want to take Sarah out of the coma too early as she had developed pneumonia. They wanted to make sure her airway had healed, and they weren’t prepared to remove the breathing tube for fear of more complications.

Four days before her wedding, Sarah awoke from the coma.

“I woke up and I couldn’t walk at the time,” said Sarah. “I came out of the coma and would walk five to 10 steps with a walker and feel incredibly weak. The nurses and physiotherapists would walk with me and make it their goal to get me to the wedding.”

Physiotherapists helped Sarah Kempinska (centre) recover in time to make it to her wedding day. (Source: Sarah Kempinska)

While intubated, family members helped finish the planning of the big day that was two years in the making. Her fiancé Jim Kelly even had to use her thumbprint to access her phone while she was in the coma, so he could help make the final payments to vendors, and get access to spreadsheets and contact lists.

She eventually recovered in time to make it to the big day.

“I think adrenaline really helped, but my dad was there to support me, and my brother was sort of on the sidelines,” said Sarah. “He [her brother] just wanted it to just be me and my dad walking down and have that special father-daughter moment we wanted for so long.”

Anna recalled the joy felt on her sister’s wedding day.

Dr. Anna Kempinska (left) sits with sister Sarah Kempinska during an interview with CTV News London at London Health Sciences Centre in London, Ont. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)

“I say to Sarah, ‘It was one of the happiest day of my life,’” said Anna. “We were so exhausted from what had happened over the past 10 days and just to see her get married and support each other…her smile was beautiful.”

Since the wedding on June 3, 2023, Sarah’s condition has improved.

She is back to work full-time, and thanks the physicians who helped her during this trying time.

“Now, I am working with my doctors on family planning,” Sarah said. “It can be more complicated with the medications I am on, so I know it may take some time, but I am hopeful and have faith in my care team to do all they can to help realize my desire to create a family.”