Fayetteville seafood market owner 'Mrs. Chang' survives brain aneurysm, five-week coma
Chang’s Fish Market owner Sun Thompson, known in Fayetteville as “Mrs. Chang,” survived a brain aneurysm and five-week coma, her daughter Jennifer McNair said last week.
Thompson suffered the aneurysm June 20, on the one-year anniversary of her late husband and market co-owner James Thompson’s death, McNair said.
Doctors told McNair that her 63-year-old mother’s chances of surviving the brain hemorrhage were "only five percent."
“She could have passed away that day,” McNair said.
After emergency surgery at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, Thompson was flown to UNC Medical Center in Chapel Hill, where she spent weeks in a coma, McNair said.
The family closed the market for a few days but reopened once her mother was stable, McNair said.
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She said she is grateful for customers who were patient even as the market hours were sporadic.
“It was really tough because we were driving back and forth daily to be with her and keep the store open,” she said.
Thompson woke from the coma July 25, McNair said.
“They didn’t expect her to wake up, but she’s always had a lucky streak,” she said.
Thompson is now in stable condition at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, her daughter said, and the family expects her to be home soon, though she will need a care nurse.
A fundraising page set up to help the family with expenses had raised $310 through six donations by Thursday.
“She is so strong,” McNair said, “She wouldn’t want to be in this position to ask people for help, but as her daughter, I have to help her.”
She and her husband ran the market at 110 Johnston St. with her kids, Jennifer McNair, Sabrina McNair and Edward McNair since 1995.
McNair said when customers learned of her mother's illness, they shared stories of Thompson's kindness.
“People come to me and say, ‘She helped me feed my children when I didn’t have any money,’” McNair said. “There are so many lives that my mother has touched."
The future of Chang’s Seafood is uncertain because of Thompson's illness, but McNair is confident that her mother will return to health.
“I believe my mother will recover,” she said.
Food, dining and business reporter Taylor Shook can be reached at tshook@gannett.com.
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This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Chang's Fish Market owner in Fayetteville survives coma
