A mum who effectively 'drowned' for 15 minutes during a swimming race is learning to communicate with her family by blinking.
Iwona Nowodworska, 44, was spotted floating face down at the end of the 475m course by a spectator, who dived in to pull her out of the water.
The mum-of-one had been in training for two years before she decided to take part in a race this June to prepare for her first triathlon.
It remains unclear what caused Iwona to get into trouble and be overcome by swallowing water during the race at a lake in Osiek, Poland.
She went into cardiac arrest, resulting in her heart stopping for 15 minutes until medics managed to revive her, but has been left severely brain damaged.
Her 25-year-old son Dawid, who's studying in the US and used to call his mum nearly every day, was devastated when doctors told him she would remain in a vegetative state for the rest of her life.
But although Iwona is now paralysed, she has been able to stretch out her fingers, tense her legs and communicate with Dawid and her husband Leszek, 53, by blinking.
Dawid said: "The first sign, like the opening of one eye, came about three weeks after the accident, and then the changes progressed very slowly.
"Something new keeps appearing all the time.
"Movements with her legs or hands are minimal. There are only movements such as stretching the fingers of her hands or slightly tensing the muscles of her legs.
"She cannot lift his legs or arms up. We communicate with her using her eyes. A longer blink is a 'yes' response. On the other hand, 'no' is a shaking of the head to the right and left.
"Sometimes she smiles which of course makes us very happy."
Dawid says his mum first fell in love with swimming back in 2005, while she was teaching him and she started going to lessons herself to help her improve.
Before her accident, Iwona went to the gym daily to either run, swim or cycle.
She had been preparing for a triathlon set to take place two months after her accident and had entered the race in June to help her prepare.
Dawid said: "As far as I know, the accident happened towards the end of the swim course.
"My mum was lying in the water with her head facing downwards for about five minutes. A spectator saw her and jumped in to rescue her.
"In the hospital emergency room, doctors tried to keep mum alive. She was hooked up to a breathing machine and after about three or four weeks, mum started breathing on her own.
"When the doctor said that mum would remain in a vegetative state, I couldn't quite believe it. All the time I was hopeful and convinced that she would finally wake up.
"She is a strong woman who always fights until the very end. Of course, that doesn't change the fact that I was simply heartbroken."
As soon as Iwona arrived at the hospital, she was hooked up to a breathing machine in intensive care and given steroids for brain stimulation.
She was transferred to a rehabilitation centre in Krakow last month, where she is having physio.
Although the future is uncertain for Iwona, who her son described as a "strong, lively and energetic" woman before the accident, the family hold out hope that her condition will improve.
Dawid said: "Mum was very lively and energetic before the accident. She loved sports and contact with other people.
"She continued to develop her skills all the time. In recent years, she has swum about three kilometres in an hour, which is very good for an amateur.
"Mum could swim very well in every stroke. She had always loved sport and was fit, it was part of her every day [routine]."
Dawid has set up a GoFundMe page to cover the costs of Iwona's treatment at the rehab centre which specialises in brain injuries.
The graphic and digital design student said: "The treatment and stay at the centre cost around PLN 26,000 [£4,900] a month.
"It doesn't include medication and daily necessities for my mum such as pampers, medical pads and other such things.
"The costs are far beyond our household budget and we are not able to provide such care for mum at home."
He added: "We also do not know how long such a stay will last and whether anything will change at all.
"However, we are pleased to see that mum is making progress all the time.
"These things are hardly noticeable, but she is not stopping."
You can donate to Iwona's GoFundMe here.
