Nadine P, a single mother in Vancouver, BC

When I was six years old, my mother contracted encephalitis, while
travelling around the world filming a made-for-television travel
series. As her brain started to swell, she began acting erratically,
and then fell into a coma that lasted several months. One day, as I was
visiting her in the hospital, a doctor told me that if my mother
survived, she would likely be a vegetable for the rest of her life. You
can't imagine how I felt, picturing my poor mom transformed into a
carrot.

Luckily, my mother proved the doctor wrong, and now, twenty-five years
later, keeps herself busy growing vegetables and teaching kids karate.