Man thought to be in Coma for 23 years was really awake!

This is as much shocking as it is scary, A car crash victim who was "Thought" to have fell in to a coma for 23 years was in his words given a "Second birth"

Rom Houben was paralysed but had no way of letting doctors know that he could hear every word they were saying.
'I dreamed myself away,' said Mr Houben, now 46, who doctors thought was in a persistent vegetative state.
He added: 'I screamed, but there was nothing to hear.'

He was fully paralyzed but was fully aware for the whole 23 years, recent tests showed that his brain was close to normal, The Patient a 46 year old man was given a new hi-tech scan which revealed the shocking results,

Mr Houben described the moment as 'my second birth'. Therapy has since allowed him to tap out messages on a computer screen.
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.

This really sends shivers up my spine, I wonder how many to end up passing away or having the life support turned of who may well be still fully aware of what is going on,
It seems the stuff nightmares are made of, I think i used to fear being buried alive i think this now beats that,

I do hope though that this brings to light the many others in comas who need to be tested with these hi tech scans, Hopefully more research can be done and these people shall be able to communicate once again,

This man will never bee able to walk but he can now communicate via computer and read books from a special screen above his bed,
I hope that now he can enjoy some life that he has been given back,

Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk...



[edit on 23-11-2009 by asala]

poor guy, i can't imagine the awfulness of something like that. i'm surprised he didn't totally lose his mind, i think i would have.

Originally posted by pieman
poor guy, i can't imagine the awfulness of something like that. i'm surprised he didn't totally lose his mind, i think i would have.

To say the least. Oh the agony of lying there unable to communicate that you are there must have been heart breaking. I think i would quickly have given up hope - a hell of a lot quicker than 23 years that's for sure.

Wow.

There is a book entitled "Look Up For Yes" by a woman named Julia Tavalaro that was in this same situation. Good book. However, as a health care worker I don't think she covers the truth and the details nearly enough.

I've taken care of many people in this condition and I always treat and speak to them as if they can speak and are fully aware....... because... ya never know. But sometimes I can see it in their eyes. Especially at times when I mention what year it is to them.

Sad thing is....... long term health care is really, really lousy. Muscles start to atrophy and contract, pressure sores develop, caretakers treat you like you're not human or even a living being. It would definitely be better to just be allowed to die.

God bless and help people in that condition.

Oh man - that's just terrifying, that would of been about 1986 - I was 6 then like you said Asala how many people have been in the same boat but the life support was turned off? And when do you turn the life support off? Hospital's don't have an infinite amount of resources... I honestly don't know if this guy is lucky that people believed in him, or that he was conscious or would he of preferred death at some point?

I really would have lost my mind - no 2 ways about it.

Sheesh! I wonder if anyone has broken the news to him that Wham split up!

Actually he's lucky he missed Boy Bands. I envy him!


IRM

You guys should check out the movie "Awake" It's about a rich guy that gets heart surgery and is awake the whole time.

Kind of similar to what this guy was going through. Only his was for 23 years though.

That's crazy though.

reply to post by asala


Poor guy, i really dont know what to say, imagine that. Inprisoned in your own body. Its like being dead but your soul cant leave.

Reminds me of the book

'Marabou stork nightmares'

By Irvine welsh.

Such a long time for personal reflection. He must have learned quiet a bit about himself. Just from the time his fortitude is incredible. But one cannot force death upon their self with sheer will alone. He might have given up hope, after all he spoke of being reborn. Amazing story. S&F.

Sick jock here (don't hate me )...

You know that thing when you can't get a song out of your mind all day? Well there was some terrible music back in the 80's...

I was thinking the same thing Conclusion was thinking. Stuck in a condition like that, I would eventually, probably, just spend most of my time meditating and pondering the universe. It's like being in solitary confinement for 23 years. How gruesome. Glad the guy is recovering, though. Perhaps with some of the new computer aided telepathy therapies coming out, we can alleviate more of these.

Originally posted by dreams n chains
But sometimes I can see it in their eyes. Especially at times when I mention what year it is to them.

why don't they put a TV on where those people can see it. i mean, small comforts and all.

there are plenty of people around who are fully capable of living a full life but haven't done much except watch TV since 1986.

Poor guy but i do have a gripe about this and that is wht hadnt the nurses noticed the fact he was conscious. At the end of the article it says he reads and uses a computer this means (i hope it does anyway) that he has full function of his eyes. So why hadnt the nurses seen his eyes move in all that time.....

Originally posted by pieman

why don't they put a TV on where those people can see it.

To me that would be a fate worse than death.

When I was in the hospital for burns in 1969, the television was always on and it seemed as though "I Love Lucy" was on ten times a day. I could never stand even look at Lucille Ball after that.

This story is frightening almost beyond comprehension.

What is really incredible is his apparent mental status.

His plans for the future remind us of the value of simple pleasures:

'I want to read, talk with my friends via the computer and enjoy my life now that people know I am not dead.'

Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk...

I saw a show about Stephen Hawking once where someone asked him what he thought about when he wasn't thinking about physics. His one word reply? "Women."

I guess it also brings up the issue of cost, Sadly im not sure they will start testing everyone with this new technology.. Many of these patients just like the man in this story will have to remain forever in hospital,

It also brings up the topic of assisted suicide, If given a choice with this new scan would many of the people affected in this way prefure to not to remain alive, Letting them have the say in there treatment.

Dr Laureys said: 'In Germany alone each year some 100,000 people suffer from severe traumatic brain injury.
'About 20,000 are followed by a coma of three weeks or longer. Some of them die, others regain health.
'But an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 people a year remain trapped in an intermediate stage - they go on living without ever coming back again.'

Again thats some shocking numbers there, And thats just in Germany from what i can make out,
Very interesting and brings up a number of thoughts,

It's strange to know that there was a similar case of this happening on a popular television show, where a very informed and well known doctor who was being treated for his own injury noticed a patient with this exact problem.
Perhaps watching this show, and this specific episode triggered a real world doctor to take this theory to the test.

Most of the show consists of real life problems, but are set in a dramatic and artificial playground but still provides very interesting results that make my med lab scientist girlfriend squeak and I surely enjoy it as well. Does anyone know what show I am talking about?

Originally posted by loner007
Poor guy but i do have a gripe about this and that is wht hadnt the nurses noticed the fact he was conscious. At the end of the article it says he reads and uses a computer this means (i hope it does anyway) that he has full function of his eyes. So why hadnt the nurses seen his eyes move in all that time.....

The answer, sadly, is that they probably weren't paying that much attention.

I know the topic of hell is debatable but I'm sure all of you agree, this is a pure unadulterated 23 year long inescapable hell. I would have lost my mind after a year let alone 23.

My heart goes out to this guy and I hope the rest of his life will be spent in comfort and constant entertainment. God knows he deserves it plus some.

If he's 46 now and has been trapped for 23 years then he was probably 23 when he crashed. If so, he got sabotaged by a dirty bomb -- a double 23 based explosive. An experience either within or amongst many (or both), but at least he didn't get killed.

It can kill you, you know.

I can't imagine what that poor man has been through... Seriously, this is the most frightening thing i can think of. Being buried alive would be better, at least it would be over quicker.

Now the nightmare is over for him, but who knows how many people out there are in the same situation...