A Texas woman who became critically ill just one day after arriving in Japan for her honeymoon is speaking publicly for the first time since surviving a medical emergency that nearly claimed her life.
Three months after falling into a coma overseas, 27-year-old Sarah Danh shared an emotional Instagram post reflecting on her recovery and thanking the people who helped bring her home, after describing how it feels like she “came back from the dead.”
Danh and her husband, Luke Gradl, traveled to Tokyo in April, just weeks after celebrating what they described as their dream wedding. But the trip quickly took a devastating turn.
Soon after arriving, Danh developed alarming symptoms, including jaundice, vomiting, fever, and severe body aches. According to PEOPLE, her condition rapidly worsened, and she also began showing signs of extreme hepatic encephalopathy, a serious decline in brain function caused by liver disease when the liver can no longer remove toxins from the bloodstream.
She was rushed to a hospital after slipping into a coma, where doctors discovered both her liver and kidneys were failing. She also developed increased intracranial pressure, a potentially fatal condition caused by swelling inside the skull.
At the time, Gradl said Danh underwent around-the-clock treatment in Japan, including continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), dialysis, blood transfusions, and plasma exchanges before doctors determined she was stable enough to be flown back to Texas, according to Tyla.
Despite doctors warning her family that she might never regain normal brain function, Danh eventually woke up.
“It feels bittersweet”
Now sharing her own account for the first time, Danh posted a series of photos documenting her recovery, including images of herself learning to walk again.
“First things first… I’m alive. It feels bittersweet to finally be sitting here, able to tell this story myself.”
She also thanked the many people who followed her story, saying the widespread attention made a major difference.
“I will never be able to fully express how grateful I am for the love that surrounded me while I couldn’t speak for myself.”
According to Danh, media coverage of her case helped generate more than $187,000 in donations, allowing her to return home.
“Thank you to everyone who held onto hope for me and stood by my family when we needed it most.”
She was fine before the trip
While her family had initially said there were no warning signs before the honeymoon, Danh said she had actually been feeling sick leading up to the vacation.
She believed she had Covid, even though she tested negative before leaving. Because she still didn’t feel well, she sought medical care before the trip.
“No blood work was done,” she wrote, adding that she was advised to “get some rest, stay hydrated, rotate Tylenol and Ibuprofen for your fever… and have fun in Japan.”
Danh said she has no memory of what happened after arriving in Japan – or even of returning home.
“I have absolutely no memory of any of it.”
She explained that she later learned she had become so weak from vomiting during the flight that she could barely walk through customs.
“Apparently I was already so weak from throwing up the whole flight that I could barely walk and could barely get through customs. Supposedly I decided to stay in and rest, convinced I’d wake up the next morning feeling better and finally be able to enjoy our honeymoon.”
“SIKE. That night everything changed. I became combative, lethargic, started speaking complete nonsense, and, according to everyone around me, turned yellow like a minion.”
“Then something incredible happened”
Danh said she was taken by ambulance to St. Luke’s Hospital, where doctors diagnosed her with acute liver failure, hepatic encephalopathy, and dangerously elevated ammonia levels.
After spending an extended period in intensive care back in Texas, she finally learned the full extent of what had happened.
“The… neurologist explained that the brain injury appeared to be caused by the hepatic encephalopathy-and that, unlike many other types of brain injuries, it could be reversible.”
She then shared the encouraging news that followed.
“Then something incredible happened. My liver slowly began healing itself.
“The swelling in my brain started going down.”
Looking back on the ordeal, Danh said the experience completely changed her outlook on life.
“It taught me how unbelievably fragile life is,” she wrote, adding: “It taught me that tomorrow is never promised.
“It taught me to love louder, forgive quicker, and appreciate the ordinary moments we so often take for granted. And most importantly… it taught me that miracles do happen.”
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