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Woman Who Awoke From Coma and Gave Birth Leaves Hospital

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A woman who awoke from a coma and gave birth to twins after her family decided to remove her from life support was transferred Wednesday to a rehabilitation center to continue her recovery.

Maria Lydia Hernandez Lopez, 25, waved to her family and reporters before she was taken by ambulance from UCLA Medical Center to Loma Linda University Medical Center.

Her husband, sister, mother and all five of her children, including the twins, were present as she left the hospital where she had been since late April. She is expected to spend up to six more months at Loma Linda, near her home in Colton.

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Lopez surprised her family and doctors in June when she awoke from the coma as a priest was praying over her. Six days later, she gave birth to healthy twin daughters.

She had been comatose for more than a month.

Lopez collapsed April 24 from the effects of arteriovenous malformation, a condition in which people are born with malformed or tangled arteries or veins in the brain. Over time, they can pressure brain tissue or rupture.

It remains too early to determine whether she will recover fully, said her neurosurgeon, John Frazee.

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