Accident gives survivor new lease on life

Many can claim inspiration from dreams they experience while sleeping. But what about a dream during a coma?

Jaimie Torres can. She barely survived a 2013 car crash, spending time in a coma. But Torres managed to emerge from her calamity not only alive, but with a newfound skill and full-time job: making jewelry.

Now 38, Jaimie recalls little of the accident. She remembers being in a car with her then-boyfriend driving through Valley Stream past the Green Acres Mall. She was conscious as they pulled her from the car that had been wrecked beyond recognition. She was rushed to Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital in Oceanside, where doctors discovered Jaimie had suffered a traumatic brain injury and needed a craniotomy — which relieves pressure around the brain and prevents blood vessels from bursting.

After the surgery, Jaimie  was moved to the intensive care unit, where she spent the next six weeks in a coma. It was during that time Jaimie remembers “dreaming I could make jewelry.”

Shortly after waking up, Jaimie began her rehabilitation at St. Johnland Nursing Center in Kings Park. There, she was able to get physical and speech therapy. And, before long, she was “dancing the Macarena with the staff and other patients.”

While there, however, she also earned a nickname: “The Miracle.”

“The rehab was the best,” Jaimie said. “I came out a lot better, and I felt a thousand times better. You just have to stick with it, and you can heal pretty fast.”

She was discharged that December, and began home care, where she lives with her parents, Pat and Frank. The first thing she did was walk straight to her bedroom and lay on her own bed.

“She has worked so hard and has gotten much better,” Jaimie’s mother, Pat, said.

In May of 2014, Jaimie started at Transitions of Long Island in Manhasset for more rehab. During her four years there, she began making the very same jewelry she dreamed about while in the coma.

“I started to realize I can do this, and it can help me get better,” Jaimie said. “I started doing it, and then I realized, ‘Hey, I have a knack for this.’”

Now, Jaimie is a community jeweler, making all sorts of necklaces and bracelets, and selling them at various fairs and festivals in Valley Stream throughout the year. She’ll sell her jewelry next at Valley Stream Community Fest in late October, where she has for the past five years.

“Last time, I sold everything I had,” Jaimie said. “And every time I go, the same customers are always there.”

Along with the normal variety of jewelry, Jaimie also makes “healing bracelets.” They’re made with hematite, a natural iron-based stone that is known in feng shui to balance and support the healing of someone’s body and home. She said these bracelets have helped a lot of people, including her uncle, who passed away from cancer a few years ago. She made him one of her “healing bracelets,” and he lived three years longer than he was told he would, she said.

Jaimie wants to keep helping people through “Jewelry by Jaimie,” but that’s not all. She also plans to get certified in reflexology, a type of massage that involves applying different amounts of pressure to the feet, hands and ears. It can be used alongside other treatments to help people deal with anxiety, asthma, headaches, sinusitis, cardiovascular issues, and other health complications.

Jonathan Asanjarani has been working with Jaimie toward this goal as her skills trainer for the past six months. He has been helping Jaimie  regain all her reading, comprehension and math skills so she can get certified.

“She’s very motivated to get better,” Asanjarani said, “and is passionate about helping people.”

But in the end, it’s not just about jewelry or massage treatment for Jaimie Torres. It’s about resilience, even in the face of the most extreme adversity.

“I want people to know to never give up,” Jaimie  said. “Keep trying and don’t look down on yourself. If you go through anything bad, there is a way out.”

Have an opinion on Jaimie Torres' story? Send an email to jlasso@liherald.com.