I just saw the movie 28 Days Later, which begins with the main character waking up from a 28-day coma to find that civilization has completely collapsed. He pulls out his IV tubes (oddly, he didn’t have a urine catheter installed), gets dressed, and wanders around the deserted streets of London for hours before meeting other people.
Instantly, this set my “bullshit meter” ringing – after four weeks in a coma, wouldn’t his muscles be too atrophied to even stand? Not to mention that the hospital was completely abandoned…although we could assume that the hospital staff held back the zombies until the last minute, and emergency generators kept everything else running until he woke up.
So my question is…how likely is this scenario? How soon could a coma patient (he suffered a closed-head injury, I think) resume total normal function?
There are tons of mistakes in 28 Days Later, as I found out when I asked why the infected only attacked the uninfected. Search Cafe Society and you’ll find all the pointless debate you could ever want.
However the basic answer is that it’s only a film and you have to suspend your disbelief. I’m sure an expert in comas and zombie movies will be along presently.
Yes I know about suspension of disbelief, and yes I know it’s important in a film like this. I’m just wondering what would happen in the REAL world, if someone were to suddenly wake up from a month-long coma. How soon could they begin normal functions again?
C’mon, I know all you medical types out there are dying to answer this question…
Well, I’m not a doctor, but have (experience explanation).
You can’t wake up from a 28 day coma and go running around. Someone in a coma could have had physical therapy to keep joints loose and slightly maintain muscle tone, but it’s very difficult to do resistance exercises (needed to maintain muscle tone and strength) with someone who doesn’t “push back”.
Not to mention the infections that would arise from 28 days of no water, laying in your own waste, no food, etc.
It didn’t take 28 days to weaken me a lot when I had my appendix out at age 12. At that time (the late Precambrian Era) the standard routine was to keep you in the hospital and in bed for about 10 days. It took me several days of holding on to handrails in going up or down stairs and walking slowly and carefully to regain strength.
I’m just wondering what would happen in the REAL world, if someone were to suddenly wake up from a month-long coma. How soon could they begin normal functions again?