Woman left unable to speak after crash suddenly sings Adele's Someone Like You

  • Adele fan Georgia Scully performs Someone Like You on holiday, five months after leaving hospital

A car crash victim who woke from a month-long coma unable to speak shocked family and medical staff by giving a word-perfect rendition of a song by pop star Adele.

Georgia Scully, from Elland, West Yorkshire, was 23 when she suffered catastrophic injuries, including life-changing brain damage, in a crash in Huddersfield in August 2022.

She was left unable to communicate with family members after regaining consciousness a month later.

But a playlist of her favourite songs, created by her sister, Nicole, provided what their mother, Sharon, described as a "miracle" when she suddenly performed Adele's Someone Like You unprompted.

Sharon said: "We’d been sat by her bedside, hoping she would talk, but she just burst into song, singing Adele to the whole ward.

"Everyone was laughing. It was the breakthrough moment and first sign that we had a piece of our Georgia back with us."

Georgia, who had been on a night out before getting a lift home on the night of the crash, says she still remembers little about the incident.

"I don’t remember anything about that night but have been told I was cut free by firefighters," she said.

"When I woke up, I was confused. I thought I was 16 years old and still at school [but] I was 23 and had a job."

Georgia was in a month-long coma following the crash.

Sharon said: "They told us she may not wake up again. And if she did, she may not be able to talk or walk.

"My husband Darren just collapsed on the hospital family room floor."

Georgia remained in hospital for four months, learning to walk and talk again, and was fitted with a titanium plate in her skull just before Christmas 2022.

Two years on, she has regained full speech and movement, but is still recovering at home with her parents.

She said music became her "solace" during her rehabilitation.

"I still get very confused and muddled. But I think positively about the future now," she said.

"I have a bus pass, like an old lady, and am starting to go back to the gym."

Darren Scully, Georgia Scully and Sharon Scully. Credit: Luke Broker/Day One

Georgia's and her family received support from the charity Day One Trauma, which helps people with traumatic injuries.

The Leeds-based charity provided emotional support, an emergency grant to cover costs such as travel and parking, and signposting to legal support.

Charity chief executive Lucy Nickson said: "We know many people are struggling financially, and the impact is only compounded when a family member suffers a sudden catastrophic injury and faces a long recovery journey, often with a disability and reduced income."


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