A mother-of-four left on the brink of death after a devastating stroke was woken from a coma by her husband playing their favourite wedding songs.

Maria Neal (48) suddenly collapsed on her husband Steve’s 46th birthday in March and suffered a stroke on the way to hospital.

She was put on a life-support machine and doctors told her family to prepare for the worst.   
 
She was airlifted for brain surgery and then put in an induced coma after the two-hour operation. Doctors weaned off her sedatives over five days but after another two days she was remained unconscious.

On the seventh day, devoted Steve then decided to play their two favourite songs, Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers and Simply Red’s If You Don’t Know Me By Now, which they danced to at their wedding 21 years ago.

To his delight, within an hour, Maria showed the first sign of response, moving her arm and nodding. Over the next two days she began to respond more and opened her eyes on the eighth day of her coma.