Asamoah Gyan and Danny Welbeck both had to make early exits with hamstring trouble, but that did not stop the Black Cats from claiming a vital victory that should secure their place in the Premier League.
When Mohamed Diame had powered Wigan ahead with a thunderous drive from distance six minutes after the break, it would have been easy for Sunderland fans' concerns to grow further.
But after Gyan's last contribution was to head the equaliser a few minutes later, Sunderland suddenly lifted themselves and took charge.
Two goals from Jordan Henderson sandwiched a penalty from Stephane Sessegnon to put the smiles back on the faces of manager Steve Bruce and chairman Niall Quinn.
And while Franco Di Santo grabbed a late second for Wigan, Sunderland had made the points safe which is exactly what they should be now after a worrying few weeks on Wearside.
Bruce must have feared the worst when he lost two of his key players in the opening 26 minutes through injury.
Phil Bardsley, who needed oxygen and seven minutes of treatment after a clash of heads with Nedum Onuoha, was the first to go, while Welbeck felt a recurrence of his hamstring problem.
The changes, with no striker on the bench, clearly disrupted the plans that Bruce had in place, with Sessegnon asked to play alongside Gyan.
Initially the Black Cats struggled to create anything, with Wigan the team to have recorded a shot on target in the first half when Simon Mignolet had to turn a shot from Hugo Rodallega away for a corner.
Lee Cattermole was the driving force behind Sunderland and it was him who they turned to when Wigan took the lead six minutes after half-time.
Gyan missed a header on half way, Charles N'Zogbia fed Diame, who turned Michael Turner before firing a rasping drive from 25 yards inside Mignolet's right post.
The lead lasted three minutes. A Henderson corner quickly broke down and rolled back to Cattermole on half way.
The captain immediately picked out Steed Malbranque on the right and he cut inside, delivered and Gyan rose unmarked to nod the equaliser beyond Ali Al-Habsi.
But when Gyan pulled up with a hamstring tear moments later, Bruce had no other striker to turn to. On came Sulley Muntari, who played left midfield and that meant Sessegnon up front on his own.
Muntari's first involvement was to send over a decent cross, Henderson chested down before unleashing powerful left foot drive in to Al-Habsi's top right corner.
Suddenly any nervous tension had been lifted and Sunderland looked like the team that had climbed to sixth earlier in the season.
With 18 minutes remaining Muntari fought off two challenges, played a neat one-two with Malbranque before a pass to Sessegnon ended with the Benin international earning a penalty for a foul from Antolin Alcaraz.
Sessegnon picked himself up and coolly sent Al-Habsi the wrong way with a well taken penalty. That was followed, five minutes later, by a fourth for Sunderland.
Again Sessegnon was involved. This time he burst down line before picking out the unmarked Henderson, who made no mistake by shooting low underneath Al-Habsi.
Wigan got one back late on when Di Santo scored from close range, but Sunderland lifted themselves seven points clear of the bottom three.
SUNDERLAND (4-4-2): Mignolet; Elmohamady, Onuoha, Turner, Bardsley (Ferdinand 11); Henderson, Cattermole, Colback, Sessegnon; Welbeck (Malbranque 26), Gyan (Muntari 63). Subs: Carson (gk), Zenden, Riveros, Meyler.
WIGAN ATHLETIC (4-5-1): Al-Habsi; Boyce (Stam 74), Caldwell, Alcaraz, Gohouri; N'Zogbia (Di Santo 84), Watson, McCarthy (Moses 67), Diame, Cleverley; Rodallega. Subs: Kirkland (gk), Thomas, Gomez, Sammon.
Source: Northern Echo
Source: Northern Echo