Mom: Jahi 'Blossoming Into a Teen'

Winkfield: She moves in bed, listens to music
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 28, 2014 6:19 AM CDT
Mom: Jahi 'Blossoming Into a Teen'
This undated file photo provided by the McMath family and Omari Sealey shows Jahi McMath.   (AP Photo/Courtesy of McMath Family and Omari Sealey, File)

Jahi McMath spends much of her time like any other teenage girl: she sits cross-legged in bed, listens to Rihanna and Beyonce on her iPod, and gets a manicure and pedicure every Friday. This according to mom Nailah Winkfield, who yesterday gave her first interviews since Jahi was moved out of Children's Hospital Oakland. Winkfield tells NBC Bay Area her daughter is "still asleep" but "very responsive," describing her as moving in bed, bending at the waist, and moving her head from side to side; her "energy level ... is way up." Winkfield adds, per NBC Philadelphia. "If somebody was totally, 100% brain dead, I don't think they'd be able to move as much as my daughter does."

Winkfield's interview also revealed what kind of care Jahi is being given, though Winkfield wouldn't say where or who is paying for it. Jahi undergoes physical therapy three or four times a week, while her mom paints her nails and gives her vitamins and fish oil "to feel useful." Winkfield adds Jahi is doing "great physically, her skin is flawless, all her vitals are stable ... She is blossoming into a teenager before my eyes ... I'm just waiting and faithful that she will have a recovery." Winkfield said she decided to speak out yesterday after being honored for protecting "a loved one against overwhelming odds" at the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network Annual Award Gala. (More Jahi McMath stories.)

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