When you know her well enough, says her husband, Mike, you see her improvements and know the doctors must be wrong.

Kathleen's heart-wrenching story is far from over, even though much time has passed. While Mike, a Saratoga High School basketball coach and teacher, was at practice on Jan. 24, Kathleen was doing pull-ups at home and went into cardiac arrest. Her 6-year-old daughter dialed 911, and police arrived within minutes to administer CPR. An EMT unit reached the scene, revived her heart with a defibrillator and rushed her to the hospital.

Kathleen was placed into a medically induced coma to rest her brain and prevent seizures. Now, months later, she's come out of that coma, changed hospitals and care providers multiple times and received many second opinions and advice from medical experts and professors. Research continues on Kathleen's condition, known as anoxic brain injury, a circumstance that results from lack of oxygen to the brain.

"This tragedy has been so overwhelming and the health-care system so challenging that without the ongoing support of the community, Kathleen's chances would be even more remote," Mike typed in an emotional email.

Kathleen is proving to those around her that she's on the road to recovery. Doctors have described her condition as "minimally responsive," and Kathleen seems to be fighting not to be categorized as being in a vegetative state. Even though doctors say her chances of getting better are miniscule and can take up to a lifetime, Mike says he's hoping and research suggests she could recover in as little as three years.

"She's definitely making an effort. There are days you come in and it's more frequent," says family friend Cece Arnold, during a visit with Kathleen. "You get that flicker—and it keeps you going."

Wearing a pink tank top and pajama pants made of a fabric decorated with lipstick tubes, Kathleen's fingernails were painted pink to match. She was surrounded by flowers, cards, posters and photographs. Colorful origami mobiles dangled from the ceiling.

From 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day, Kathleen, who recently turned 38, has had a constant stream of visitors, stimulating her through conversation, physical therapy and books on tape, plus lots of love and affection.

Her visitors, like Arnold and close family friend Jim Fitzgerald, say they continue to learn from Kathleen of the importance of virtues like patience and endurance. They described Kathleen as having an avid devotion to reading and adoring her daughters, Samie, now age 7, and Rachel, 5, who both attend Foothill Elementary School in Saratoga.

Kathleen could once identify every Hollywood actor and actress and also recognized all of Mike's former students by name, even better than he could. She hated having her picture taken and even looking in a mirror, yet she was bright, witty and had a vibrant laugh and smile. She loved chocolate, wine and champagne.

Mike says it's "a series of miraculous events" that keep her family and friends believing she's going to pull through.

At one point Kathleen was given her last rites and expected to die—yet she suddenly started improving.

A doctor told the family that since Kathleen hadn't taken a breath on her own since she'd been hospitalized, she probably never would again. Her next breath was her first.

She's made deliberate strides under a therapy team at the Journey to Recovery Program at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. Most recently, she's been moved to the Almaden Health and Rehabilitation Center on the Los Gatos­Almaden border.

"Kathleen always did everything right. She was kind to everyone, ate right and worked out regularly. I've struggled with how this could happen to her of all people. Yet, if it had happened to anyone else in the family," Mike says, "I don't think we would have had the stamina to survive. Kathleen did."

Mike, the son of Santa Clara University basketball coach Dick Davey, added that the meals from the community, a website maintained by Mike's good friend and colleague Kirk Abe, financial assistance and a visiting schedule have made the process easier. The financial burdens of modifications to their house and all the equipment Kathleen will need to progress, Mike says, in addition to the daily care and transportation she'll require when she comes home, are "almost unfathomable." The Daveys' home in Campbell will need a special shower facility for Kathleen and an added room for her downstairs.

"With a heavy heart our family continues," Mike says. "Because Bean [Kathleen's nickname] has been and continues to be the glue that holds our extended family together—and the center of my personal universe."

Kathleen can hold her head up, focus on people and sit up or stand with assistance. She even makes a snoring noise if something is wrong or she's unhappy.

"She'll turn away from you when she's tired," Mike says. "You can tell she just poops out."

Mike and Kathleen found true love when they were students at Santa Clara University in a "Politics of China" class. Mike walked her across campus every day, trying to get up the nerve to ask her out, when she beat him to the punch. Today, Mike's commitment to his wife is evident in the way he strokes her beautiful, curly hair, touches her cheek, massages her shoulders or gently kisses her.

"She's been there for me always, and I'll be there for her as long as she needs me. I think I made a promise," added Mike, recalling that their wedding vows stipulated they'd be together "for always," rather than "until death do you part."

With tears in his eyes, Mike says he only has one regret when he talks to his wife about his day in the classroom or how the girls are doing in school.

"When I put my arms around her, I'm still comforted," Mike says. "I just wish she could talk back."

For more information about Kathleen's progress, visit www.saratogahigh.org/shs/departments/staffpages/kabe/kathleenupdate.htm. Donations can also be sent to the Saratoga High School Davey Family Fund, 20300 Herriman Ave., Saratoga, CA 95070.