Woman who woke from coma gets first wish—to see Seger

Eric Pfeiffer
·Reporter

Against the odds and "Against the Wind," one Michigan woman has come back from the brink to fulfill a rock n' roll fantasy.

In 2011, a Michigan woman awoke from a coma after five years and immediately had one simple request, “I want to go to a Bob Seger concert."

And now, two years later, she’s going to be showing off her night moves in style with a limo and after-party tickets for Seger’s upcoming concert on Thursday at the Palace in Auburn Hills.

The Detroit News reports that 79-year-old Evie Branan’s first words upon regaining consciousness back in May, 2011, even took her by surprise.

"Why would I say that?" Branan said, laughing, in a separate interview with the Flint Journal. "Maybe my last thoughts were Bob Seger before I had my stroke."

Branan went into a coma after falling down a flight of stairs in 2007. Since awakening, she has been working on her physical therapy, recovering most of her memory and progressing to walking about 150 steps per day. She's even getting a new set of hearing aids in advance of the concert.

"I'm so excited I can hardly breathe," she said. "What am I looking forward to the most? Hugging Bob Seger and giving him a big smooch."

Punch Entertainment, the company that manages Seger, helped put together the concert after-party for Branan, including a dinner with Seger’s band and crew. Though the singer himself is not confirmed to attend, it’s possible he may also join Branan.

Her story "was definitely nothing I had heard before," said Ann Tenbrusch, who works for Punch Enterprises. "I always want to try to help out with stories like that because Bob loves his fans. It's such a cool story I just wanted to help out in any way I could."

And while Branan is personally thrilled to be attending the concert, she also said she helps her approach to recovering from the coma can help inspire other patients in similar situations.

“Eventually I will get up on my own because I won't give up," she said. "Hopefully, people who have had a stroke read this and won't give up."