I was in a medical coma and given a 1% chance to live. The experience taught me I can adapt to things I can't control.

• At 21, I went into septic shock and was put in a medically induced coma for six days.
• Doctors gave me a 1% chance of survival. 
• I had to learn how to adapt to my new life and still pursue my dreams. 

When I was 21 years old, I had a near-death experience that changed my entire life.

I was in college, growing one of my first businesses, and only months away from graduation when, out of nowhere, deadly bacteria entered my system, sending my body into septic shock.  The doctors told my parents, “We have to induce your daughter into a medical coma,” since I needed to be intubated and on a ventilator, and then said I only had 24 hours to live. 

I was given a 1% chance of survival. Against all odds, I not only survived, I’m thriving despite living with an autoimmune disease. I’ve learned to adapt to the things I can’t control and find the strength to pursue what I want in life.

I didn’t know what happened to me

I was in a coma for six days and in the intensive care unit for 10 days. When I woke up from the coma, I had a mask on my face, tube down my throat, and I was hooked up to nine different bags of antibiotics. I couldn’t move, breathe, or speak on my own. 

But I did have my mind. 

At the time, I didn’t know what had happened to me. All I knew was that I needed the strength to survive. I didn’t have control over anything but my thoughts. I remember picturing my mind to be this pure, healthy pink color, and the rest of my body was black and rotting away. I later realized this was, in a sense, what was happening as sepsis was damaging my organs.

I used this visualization to try and heal my body. I would picture the pink, healthy color moving down from my mind to the rest of my body. And I would hold on to that visualization, pushing the pink color down with every ounce of energy I had left. 

A day later, one of the antibiotics streaming into my body began to work. I was out of the danger zone. Yet I was still in so much physical pain. I knew I had to redirect my thoughts away from all the negativity in order to not give up. 

At this time, I couldn’t have a drink of water because a tube was down my throat — and all I wanted was water. I visualized myself on my high-school running track, sprinting to the finish line where my family and friends were holding a giant bucket of ice-cold water. 

I finally got to the end of the race, winning my battle at the hospital and getting that glass of water the day before I was discharged. 

I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease

Six months after I was released from the hospital, I was diagnosed with a debilitating chronic illness: ulcerative colitis. While there’s no definite cause, some of my doctors think it could’ve been caused by the antibiotics pumping in my body for so long while I was in the ICU. 

Each time I thought I was on the path to remission, I’d get knocked down again. But I’ve learned how to adapt to all the things I cannot control. 

I’ve adapted to not only living with this autoimmune disease but using it as a vehicle to inspire others.

Today I’ve finally learned that the light in all of my darkness was never at the end of the tunnel, it was within me all along. 

Alexa Carlin is a keynote speaker, CEO of Women Empower X, and author of  “Adaptable: How to Lead with Curiosity, Pivot with Purpose, and Thrive Through Change.”

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