A car crash victim who was believed to have been in a coma for the past 23 years has been conscious the whole time. Rom Houben was paralysed but could not let doctors know that he could hear every word they were saying, reports the Daily Mail. "I dreamed myself away," said Mr Houben, now 46, who doctors thought was in a persistent vegatative state. Doctors conducted a series of coma tests before concluding that his consciousness was "extinct". But three years ago, new hi-tech scans showed his brain was still functioning almost completely normally. Mr Houben said: "All that time I just literally dreamed of a better life. Frustration is too small a word to describe what I felt." His case has only just been revealed in a scientific paper released by the man who 'saved' him, top neurological expert Dr Steven Laureys. "Medical advances caught up with him," said Dr Laureys, who believes there may be many similar cases of false comas around the world. Mr Houben, a former martial arts enthusiast, was paralysed in 1983. He is never likely to leave hospital, but as well as his computer he now has a special device above his bed which lets him read books while lying down. Mr Houben said: "I shall never forget the day when they discovered what was truly wrong with me - it was my second birth. Source ----- That must suck balls literally "I want to read, talk with my friends via the computer and enjoy my life now that people know I am not dead."
He maybe paralyzed but surely he should be able to talk? Unless something damaged his vocal chords but nothing has said that? So did the drugs make him can't talk? I feel sorry for this dude, for being stuck in the hospital for so long when he doesn't need to. I know of someone who's lucky got out the car crash and survived but paralyzed but, she has to have a nurse around her 24/7 and she can't eat she has a tube on her throat or stomach :(
^ if u want to live you are lucky if u didnt wanna live you are not lucky, depends on mind set really...
paralysis can affect the whole body, not necessarily just the limbs. and 23 years gone just like that...
i saw that on the news tonight.... i guess its another fail in our medical world ><. this tells us to cherish every moment in life. the stupid doctors wasted 23yrs of his life! damnnnnn
to some people it's surviving and wants to exist to not miss anything? dunno tbh, i don't think i can enjoy life if i;'m paralyse and can't eat properly, but to some people can enjoy life just by sitting there and getting used to some of the downside which we won't know the feeling of until we reach to that stage (if we ever get to that stage)>.<
Man...23 years....trying to communicate but no one hears you. Absolute nightmare. Hope that no one in coma is in the same situation
I get your point but paralysis can't really reflect the eye movement, so if it weren't for the medication used on him, he may have alerted the doctors by the ways of his eyes are moving... in the end it's lal the hospital fault tbh no matter how many tests the docs ran on this guy
do you have an MD? edit: i fail to understand how it's the hospital's fault when the medical knowledge of the time prohibits the diagnosis of this patient. please get yourself an MD, come up with great medical breakthrough, and get 5 nobel prizes for your work.
