My sister in law 20 F is in Coma

Yesterday my sister in law who is 20 F, white , overweight had a frontal car crash. Had been on pill for years. Other than that no medical history

It was like a two way road so cars coming from one way and on the opposite way and she crashed with one car on the opposite way. Frontal car crash

After that she fell in a coma

The crash was important but didn’t left any visible injury she had a seatbelt on and it was more like of a shaken baby like it was a head injury. The motion of the head forward and backward

So the medics came and transported her to the hospital quickly

She had her crash at 10h45 am and arrived at 11 and they only did a CT scan at 5 pm

The CT scan showed that one part of her brain was dead that she suffered from an ischemic stroke

At midnight they operated her on her throat to remove the blood clot that caused this

The operation went well

She is still in coma but is stable. No brain bleeding. No Oedema. But half is dead

She is stable

As of now since it’s a severe case we don’t get updates by the phone.

Here is the chain of communication: they only deliver updates in person since it’s pretty heavy.

Only her mom is able to go there it’s the neurochirurgical ICU. Only one person allowed

So her mom has to go there to get updates , they do give general updates by phone only to her mom but for real updates they only do in person, then her mom calls my brother and then my brother updates us

I have a lot of questions that is why I am writing here since I can’t ask the doctors myself since she is in the ICU

But my sister in law was really close to me we were always hanging out. Just the day before her accident she was in my house

Here is my question . Could she have been suffering a stroke which would have caused the car crash in the first place ?

The medical team said apparently she had the stroke and blood clot in her throat after the car crash. Caused by the car crash

But once I heard about the car crash I thought immediately about a possible stroke because as I said it’s 2 lines going one way and another

It’s really unlikely to crash like this like you would have to swing wheels on the opposite road and crash the car opposite

I feel like maybe she had a stroke and then it caused her to lose control of the vehicle and crash the opposite car

And that maybe if they did the CT scan earlier they could have saved what could have been saved earlier

Like is that normal to have done the CT scan at 5 pm only and surgery at midnight? After a frontal car crash? Isn’t it urgency?

Because I think if she indeed had a stroke prior to accident then they need to do more investigating also want to know if it’s normal they only did the CT scan at 5 pm

As I said she was overweight and was on contraceptives so I read it can be a risk factor for strokes

We know she might suffer from hemiplegia. We are happy she is still alive and will be here to support her on this journey to recovery

To be honest if she wakes up we would already be happy even if she has hemiplegia

I saw on social media a lot of people recover somewhat a normal life after this with years of physical therapy

We know she will be disabled but we are hopeful of her recovery

As of now she can only get better

Essentially my question is : is it normal to do a CT scan 6 hours after a traumatic head injury ?

Was there a case of malpractice ?

Could urgent care have prevented her brain damage ? She got her accident at 10h45. She was brought to the hospital 20 mins after it was really quick

But they only did the CT scan at 5pm

I am from France and we have this issue about hospital giving priority to people with appointment before urgent cases

If there is malpractice we would sue. 100%. Not letting that slide.

I just feel bad because I feel like maybe if they considered the stroke in the first place she could have been treated earlier with medication and saved half of her brain

I have been saying she had a stroke since I knew of the crash at 12 pm but couldn’t talk to the doctors so I feel bad like I could have been advocating for my friend

Like when her mom asked what caused the crash the doctors said “we don’t know and don’t care the priority is her recovery” but if they would have dig they could have seen the clot earlier.

Could this have been prevented? If they considered the stroke and since 70% of strokes are because of the throat blood clot. If they did an ultrasound and If they gave her blood thinner medication at 11 am ? Would her brain have been saved ?

Is it normal to leave a traumatic head injury victim without CT scan for 6 hours ?

Are they delaying my friend medical assistance ?

Is it normal ?

The car she crashed into everyone is safe. Only minor injuries

Update: I was able to see her today. They upgraded thé visit from 1 to 4 people per day

Her face is swollen because of the surgery but she is doing better. When she first arrived her mom said her hands were cold

Today I felt her hands and they were warm

We stay hopeful for her recovery

Thank you for answering