How a shock illness forced this woman to redefine herself and her closest relationships
On New Year's Day in 2013, Rikke Schmidt Kjaergaard started to feel ill. Her condition rapidly worsened and less than a day later, she fell into a coma. For 11 days, she was "locked in", unable to move or speak.
'I really had to reconsider... what was I?' says Rikke Schmidt Kjaergaard
This story was originally published on October 18, 2019.
On New Year's Day in 2013, Rikke Schmidt Kjaergaard started to feel ill.
Her condition rapidly worsened and less than a day later, she fell into a coma. For 11 days, she was "locked in", unable to move or speak.
Schmidt Kjaergaard tells Out in the Open host Piya Chattopadhyay about her shocking near-death experience, and how she struggled to readjust to her family life after moving from caregiver to the one who needed care.
This story appears in the Out in the Open episode "Together Again".