Norfolk, Va. - By her warm, infectious smile, you would never know what Amber Brown has been through the past few weeks of her life.
"It was scary because I was like, how did I make it, you know? And the nurses were like, well, they call you the miracle child."
NewsChannel 3 brought you Amber's story back in January when the Norfolk State University women's basketball junior was found unconscious in her dorm room on New Year's Day. Shortly after, she was hospitalized in a coma.
Amber says the doctors believe the incident was sparked by her Type 1 Diabetes that she was diagnosed with her freshman year of college. However, she says, they do not know for sure.
"For her to even just be walking, I mean, we're talking about strokes, heart attacks, everything," says Amber's mom, Coretta. "It wasn't good information if you went by the way it looked, so that was really hard."
However, what started as Amber fighting for her life, quickly turned into a glimpse of hope every day.
"It's overwhelming what your eyes can do to bring down your spirit when you see bad things, so we kind of had to put that aside and see today, we had to see today 5 weeks ago," says Coretta.
With Coretta still by Amber's side, nine hours from their home in Atlanta, Georgia, they are somehow viewing it all as a blessing.
She says Amber's recovery is living proof of what faith and an amazing community can accomplish.
The NSU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee collected monetary donations for the Brown family at home basketball games throughout the month of January. A GoFundMe page was set up to help pay for the Atlanta native’s care.
Among the prayers, phone calls, and support from social media community-wide, Amber's teammates also started to raise awareness about diabetes.
"We were able to give them ribbons, they were passing out materials," says Avanti Allen-Benson, Community Engagement Manager with the American Diabetes Association.
Allen-Benson says they were already working with Norfolk State University to being their College Diabetes Initiative. Now, they cannot think of a better reason to start.
"We knew that we had to do something and I wanted to make sure that we moved forward."
As Amber constantly monitors her sugar levels, self-injects insulin, and has a long road of physical therapy ahead, she says she's sharing her story as well.
"I believe that miracles can happen and you can come back, you can get hurt, go through something, struggle, but you can come back and do what you believe in."
