I just heard today the news story of the guy who awoke from his coma after 18 years. They said he was talking slow but coherently and remembered a lot. They said he was out for half his life so I assume he was around 18 sometime around 1985 when this happened. They also said he would be having financial troubles from the hospital bills from the past 18 years.
Is it just me or does anyone else find this fascinating and think the guy should write a book about what it’s like to “fall asleep in 1985 and wake up 18 years later”. I would love to hear his views on the biggest shocks and wonders on topics such as politics, world affairs, pop culture, technological advances, etc.
Here’s a 36 year old guy from the 80’s who’s never seen DVDs, never knew either of the shuttle disasters, missed 3 or 4 presidents, never heard of 9/11, missed the whole grunge scene, never seen cellphones so commonplace, etc., etc.
I would gladly buy the book and have the proceeds go towards his hospital bills.
(by the way, is there already any books like this out there from people this may have already happened to???)
I’m wondering why at least part of those hospital bills hadn’t been eaten already if he’s been out 18 years.
Didn’t someone get him signed up for disability?
The OP isn’t quite accurate. IIRC, CNN covered it yesterday and I’m trying to find a link to the story. He hasn’t been in a coma for quite some time – he regained his ability to speak after 19 years. The story was covered He was in a car accident when he was 18 that left him paralysed from the neck down.
Originally hisparents were told he was in a coma, but then they realised he could communicate by blinking his eyes.
He was never assessed by a neurologist because it was way too expensive and wasn’t covered by their health plan because it wasn’t about to shell out that much money for someone who would never regain the workforce.
He has been cared both by his parents and in by a nursing home. For a very long time he communicated by blinking his eyes and grunting. Recently he blurted out “mom” then “Pepsi” then “dad” and now he’s talking in full, if very slow and labored, sentences.
He won’t be writing any books anytime soon. He still suffers from severe brain damage and has great difficulty with short term memory – he will say that Ronald Reagan is the president if you ask and he has a difficult time retaining facts about today.
He will continue to be cared for by his parents and the nursing home. I’m not quite sure about the “hospital bills.” For almost two decades he’s been living with his parents and in the nursing home, so I’m sure that his family has put together some kind of payment schedule for those services (otherwise the nursing home would have booted him out by now) – it’s not like he’s suddenly responsible for 18 years of medical bills that have never been paid.
Wow, I found a link in BBC’s site, but it’s rather inaccurate compared to the more in-depth article I read yesterday…
sigh Yesterday the headlines were “man regains speech after 19 years” I guess “wakes from coma” sounds more exciting. I’m still looking for the in-depth link. The quotes from the mom were great!
A-ha! Link. More in-depth.