Detroit native Kelly Strickland had been in a coma since 2014 after a car accident but two weeks ago, she miraculously opened her eyes for the first time since the collision, before immediately reaching for her phone to find out what she had missed on Facebook.
Despite suggestions from the doctors to “take it easy” and “put the phone down so important tests can be conducted,” Strickland has spent the last 12 days scrolling through her phone in an attempt to see every single update from the past two years.
Kelly had already scrolled back seven weeks in her feed by the time nurses found her awake. “We’re supposed to massage her arms and gently move them around for her as she regains strength,” says nurse Nicky Perez. “But she wouldn’t put down the phone, so I just did her legs for twice as long and just hoping her arms are somehow okay.”
Strickland’s muscles were at risk for atrophy, but due to her determination to find out what all of her ex-boyfriends have been up to, she’s managed to summon enough mobility in her fingers to scroll and tap.
“Before the doctors even called us, I received 237 notifications that Kelly had liked all of my tagged photos,” explains Kelly’s sister Alison. “We’re glad she’s awake, but you can imagine how upsetting this whole thing is.”
“She knew my kids names, she knew about the ending of Breaking Bad, and insisted on finding out what ever happened to that science teacher who inspired her to study chemical engineering in college,” says Kelly’s brother, Bryan. “She wouldn’t let us tell her anything. She kept shouting ‘no spoilers!’ if we would try.”
“My last Facebook post only received 11 likes. You would think that getting hit by a truck would garner more social media attention than that,” Strickland comments. “But I’m so glad I could wake up and find that Facebook is still around and that I might regain the use of my legs.”
Now Strickland is back home with her family, and she plans on spending the next few months catching up on Twitter, Vine, Instagram, Snapchat, and even Ello.
