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Discussion Forums » In The News
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Man trapped in 23-year 'coma' was actually consc
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24 Nov 2009, 01:42
Estella
Post Count: 1779
An engineering student thought to be in a coma for 23 years was actually conscious the whole time, it has emerged.

Rom Houben was misdiagnosed as being in a vegetative state after a car crash left him totally paralysed.

For the whole time, he was trapped in his own body with no way of letting friends and family know he could hear every word they were saying.

The 46-year-old, who can now tap out computerised messages and read books on a device above his hospital bed, has revealed: "I screamed, but there was nothing to hear.

"All that time I literally dreamed of a better life. Frustration is too small a word to describe what I felt.

"I shall never forget the day when they discovered what was truly wrong with me - it was my second birth.

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

His misdiagnosis was discovered by neurological expert Dr Steven Laureys, who fears there may be similar cases all over the world.

He looked at Mr Houben's case again at the University of Liege, Belgium, using state-of-the-art imaging that showed the patient was aware of what was happening around him even though he had lost control of his body.

Dr Laureys, who leads the Coma Science Group, was unavailable for comment when contacted by Sky News Online.

He told the Daily Telegraph: "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."

Rom, a martial arts enthusiast who remains in constant care at a facility near Brussels, was repeatedly wrongly assessed in Zolder, Belgium, by doctors using technology available at the time.

They used the internationally accepted Glasgow Coma Scale to assess his eye, verbal and motor responses. But each time he was graded incorrectly.

The disclosure is likely to renew the right-to-die debate over whether people in comas are truly unconscious.

There have been several cases where people in deep comas have recovered.

Carrie Coons, 86, from New York, regained consciousness 20 years ago.

Days before her recovery, a judge had granted a request for the removal of her feeding tube which had been keeping her alive.

Source: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20091123/twl-man-trapped-in-23-year-coma-was-cons-3fd0ae9.html
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24 Nov 2009, 04:48
lithium layouts.
Post Count: 836
The Glascow Coma Scale is a very broad, crude, quick test, usually used in emergency. I find it unusual that would have repeatedly assessed him in that way.

Certainly tragic, but his story does have a happy ending in that he can now finally properly interact with the world again.
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24 Nov 2009, 08:41
lithium layouts.
Post Count: 836
Glasgow*

that they* would have

Excuse the typos. xD
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24 Nov 2009, 14:27
Estella
Post Count: 1779
What would you use instead, yo? The Glasgow Coma Scale is the only one I've heard of, and I believe it's used in the UK to assess people's level of consciousness, not just in emergency, but repeatedly over time to see how consciousness levels change - to measure progress or deterioration. Is there a better test to use?
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25 Nov 2009, 03:04
lithium layouts.
Post Count: 836
Not sure what I'd use, actually. xD But, doing the same test for 23 years (at least that's the impression I get) seems a bit silly to me. That, and the GCS relies on very much on motor responses, which would obviously be lacking in someone with profound paralysis (but with intact perception and cognition). I wonder how it is that they actually discovered he was conscious - was it the imaging (MRI)?
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24 Nov 2009, 19:45
Acid Fairy
Post Count: 1849
That's amazing.
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24 Nov 2009, 05:53
Jessica [Private]
Post Count: 1751
That poor man :(
I find it remarkable that he actually hung on and didn't just will himself to pass on.

Lord knows I'd have tried after about five years :-/
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24 Nov 2009, 14:42
Estella
Post Count: 1779
I think maybe for people whose bodies are unable to respond in this way, their emotions don't get so strong because they stay in the mind, and do not have accompanying physiological manifestations that most people's emotions have. So they don't get hardcore depressed, although they do get frustrated.
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24 Nov 2009, 16:14
Doc
Post Count: 507
That would fucking suck. That poor poor man.
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25 Nov 2009, 12:10
queenbutterfly
Post Count: 425
What a great testimony the Lord has given this gentleman! As much as he suffered he will be used greatly to bring hope and peace to those who have suffered in such a way, or even to families who might be in a similar situation. Hopefully some of the other situations like this can be reassessed!
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