As the University of Alabama and Auburn University square off tonight, Vera Britt, mother of two past and one current Alabama football players, is still battling a brain injury following an accident that occurred after the Alabama Homecoming Game against Houston in Tuscaloosa on Oct. 6.

While Vera’s husband, Tommy, was making plans for the family to travel to Auburn on Friday for the Iron Bowl game, he said Vera had a rough night with little sleep. She complained of serious head pain in the morning.

Asked how she felt, Vera said, “OK, I’m feeling better,” but later told her husband she wanted to stop in Birmingham to see her doctor on the way to the game.

Tommy calls his wife’s recovery miraculous and attributes her success to the power of prayer.

“Even though she had a rough night last night, she’s not supposed to be able to sit up like she is right now,” said Tommy. “Things that she is not supposed to be able to do, she is doing.

That is a miracle.”

“Vera can walk by herself,” said Tommy. “Her motor skills are about 90 to 95 percent back.”

Joking he said, “She can’t skip rope yet,” but he is amazed by her progress.

Last weekend during Senior Day, Coach Nick Saban escorted each senior to the 50-yard line to meet his parents prior to the game against Louisiana Monroe.

“She walked on the football field last week,” to meet Justin said Tommy. “As we were walking back by the student section, the students were cheering her on at the football game.”

Vera’s success has even surprised medical professionals.

“Even though she feels a little rough right now, she is basically about a year ahead” of where she should be, said Tommy.

Vera’s therapist said patients who have had the same surgery and problems can’t do what she can do one year following surgery, said Tommy.

“I have gotten a lot of prayers. I know I wouldn’t have made it if I didn’t have prayer,” said Vera.

“People would come into Vera’s Intensive Care Room without her knowing it,” and pray said Tommy.

They would pray in the waiting room.

The Alabama and Auburn nations came together to pray for Vera as did so many others, he said. Alabama basketball player Ronald Steele and several other players gathered around Vera’s bed and prayed for her.

“Vera was unconscious, and they had a circle of prayer around her,” said Tommy.

Word began to travel fast following Vera’s accident.

“Debbie Baumhauer was in charge of e-mails,” said Tommy.

Debbie’s son, Evan, plays for the Carolina Panthers, and her brother, Bob Baumhauer, played for Alabama.

“He is one of the big icons of Alabama,” said Tommy.

Bob is also known for playing on the Miami Dolphins team in 1972, the only undefeated team in the NFL.

“It’s amazing how many people cared and prayed about this,” said Tommy.

The Britts received e-mails from all over the United States. Her daughter Melissa saved the e-mails for her mother to read when she recovered. Vera said she learned much of what happened and how sick she was through cards and e-mails.

Vera said there must have been 1,000 cards that came in.

She was in a California Roadster when the accident happened. Tommy described the vehicle as a“glorified golf cart.”

“She was showing some teenagers how to drive it,” he said.

Vera said, “I stood up on the back plane,” but after that, “I don’t remember any of it.”

The vehicles reach speeds up to 40 miles per hour. When Vera stood up, the driver did not stop, said Tommy.

“We really don’t know what happened then. She just kind of flipped off the back of it,” he said. “It was just an accident.”

Tommy was exiting the couple’s motor home when the accident occurred.

When he arrived on the scene, he said, “There was blood coming out of her ear.”

Vera, who was unconscious, was rushed to DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa. She initially improved and regained consciousness but worsened and required emergency neurosurgery for bleeding and swelling in the brain early Monday morning.

“I didn’t think she would live to get out of the first hospital,” Tommy said.

The couple’s five children were at their mother’s side.

Melissa, 31, is married to Adam Skipper.

“They have three little girls,” said Tommy. “They are going to live right out here behind us in two weeks.”

Melissa has a master’s degree in education but is working for her father at Britt Demolition. The company does commercial and industrial demolition work across the state. It tore down the downtown plaza in Cullman and has a long-term contract with Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville. Melissa’s husband works in Information Technology at Rehau.

Lindsay, 28, is married to Jeff Brannon and has 3 1/2 children, according to daughter Kaitlin, 10. Lindsay teaches at East Elementary and is expecting the couple’s fourth child, said Tommy.

Wesley, 26, who played offensive tackel for Alabama, is engaged and plans to marry in earch March. He currently plays for the New England Patriots as an offensive tackle.

“This is his third year,” said Tommy.

Taylor, 24, who played offensive guard and center for Alabama, is married to Racheal; and Justin, 22, is a senior at the University of Alabama and plays as an offensive guard.

“All the kids had gone back to their normal activities because we thought after the first surgery that everything was OK,” said Tommy.

Monday evening Vera was transferred by ambulance to Trinity Medical Center in Birmingham.

Vera said, “Tommy’s niece works there, Nicki Tankersley.”

“Twenty people from Cullman, friends of hers, friends of her kids, they were there before we were there,” said Tommy.

Eventually about 100 people showed up.

The medical center has a neurology intensive care unit.

“It has the No. 2 neurosurgeon in the United States,” said Tommy.

Vera’s neurosurgeon was Dr. Zenko Hrynkiw.

“The NICU just opened two months earlier,” said Tommy.

He said having that type of care was “unbelievable.”

Vera suddenly took a turn for the worse, and she was going to need that specialized care.

“I was the only one there when everything went wrong,” said Tommy. “They think she had a slight stroke that caused the bleeding and pressure in the brain. They are not really sure what happened.”

The swelling and pressure had to be alleviated.

During surgery, part of Vera’s skull was removed to let her brain expand. The removed portion will be reimplanted in mid-December.

“She had a 10 percent chance of living,” said Tommy. “We called Wesley. Wesley had gone back because we thought she was stable Tuesday night.”

Wesley was on the practice field at Foxborough, Mass.

“Justin was at school. Taylor was up here running the business. Lindsay was at East Elementary and Melissa was at home,” said Tommy.

Tommy called Meslissa.

“She started arranging things there,” he said.

Wesley’s fiancee, Katie Boyd, called a friend’s fiancee in Foxborough.

“She went to the complex, the practice area, and talked to the trainers,” said Tommy. “The trainers went out and told him (Wesley) what was going on.”

Head Coach Bill Belichick told Wesley to head home, said Tommy.

Following the second surgery, Vera was completely paralized on her left side.

“Justin had missed the Ole Miss game,” said Tommy, so he calculated that Vera had been paralyzed on one side for a week. “One night she started moving a little bit of her arm and leg.”

At that point, Vera’s breathing tube and respirator were removed, though she was still attached to a couple of tubes, said Tommy.

Then the unexpected happened.

“The nurses looked up from their station,” said Tommy. “She was standing up by her bedside.”

Nurses found Tommy in the waiting room to tell him the news.

“What happened with the surgery, it’s just been a miracle,” said Tommy.

The Cullman County Sheriff’s Office sent a “huge food and cookie basket,” said Tommy. “Things like that were unbelievable.”

“I had a brother who had a stroke when he was 19, and he is still affected,” said Vera.

Vera said her brother had a birth defect that affected his blood vessels.

“He is paralyzed on his right side completely. He lost his speech,” said Vera.

But the story doesn’t end there.

“He married his high school sweetheart. They have been together ever since,” said Vera.

The couple have two boys.

Vera’s journey has been just as miraculous.

“God has been there every step. I know he has,” said Vera. “I know I need to know why. I know there is a reason why I am going through this. I know that God will let me know so that I can share it with other people.”

Vera was concerned about getting her Alabama things together for the game, and Tommy had made arrangements with a friend to swap tickets.

“If we go into the game, I have a friend that has scholarship tickets for the boxes, and I am trading him two of my purchase tickets for two tickets up there,” said Tommy. “That way we can sit in the covered area.”

Following coffee and breakfast, the pair planned to load up the motor home and tow the hummer to Auburn. Three grandchildren were going with them.

“She will lay down and watch movies with the grandkids,” said Tommy.