'I dreamed myself away': Rom Houben, now 46, has told of the nightmare of being trapped in a paralysed body, unable to tell doctors that he was awake, for 23 years
Posted on 11/23/2009 10:28:32 AM PST by NYer
A car crash victim has spoken of the horror he endured for 23 years after he was misdiagnosed as being in a coma when he was conscious the whole time.
Rom Houben, trapped in his paralysed body after a car crash, described his real-life nightmare as he screamed to doctors that he could hear them - but could make no sound.
'I screamed, but there was nothing to hear,' said Mr Houben, now 46, who doctors thought was in a persistent vegatative state.
'I dreamed myself away,' he added, tapping his tale out with the aid of a computer.
Doctors used a range of coma tests before reluctantly 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 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.
The disclosure will also renew the right-to-die debate over whether people in comas are truly unconscious. Rom said he wants to enjoy life again - now that his friends and family know he's not in a coma after all
Mr Houben, a former martial arts enthusiast, was paralysed in 1983.
Doctors in Zolder, Belgium, used the internationally accepted Glasgow Coma Scale to assess his eye, verbal and motor responses. But each time he was graded incorrectly.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Pro life ping!
Well, it’s too late now for Terri Schiavo.
Yikes. I’m willing to bet this is more common than we know.
Under Obamacare this man would have been thrown under the bus.
How horrible!
This should reawaken Everyone to the Horrific Torturous Death that Terri Schiavo and her Real Family were subjected to at the hands of a Wife Abuser and eventually a successful Murderer and the Scandalous DEATH PANELS that Ordered Terri’s Horrific DEATH!! A Death that makes Waterboarding look like a Child’s Game!!!The TRUTH will come to the Surface Hopefully Many will serve Eternities in HELL for their Participation in Terri’s Execution.....:-(
Amazing story.
For future reference, I am putting in my living will that someone is to make sure that the TV left is on and changed to all worthwhile shows in the event that I am in a “coma”. And, people should visit me and chat me up as if I were responsive. It’d be rough to lay there for 23 years just listening to your own thoughts.
SnakeDoc
There was an episode of the Twilight Zone about this.
Was not this also the story of ‘Death of a Salesman?”
Never pull the plug. Never.
That became a movie with Jason Robards.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Got_His_Gun_(film)
It’s a disturbing movie.
Later footage from it was used in a famous Metallica video, “One”.
no, death of a salesman was a guy past his prime, regrets about his kids lack of success, and his eventual suicide, possibly because of onsetting dementia
It’s a fact that some rehabs and nursing homes mistreat these patients by a large margin. I’ve worked as an advocate for the elderly and disabled for several years since I retired.
They are warehoused and unless the family is active in care and keeps a tight watch on the loved one, the neglect and abuse is awful.
This man’s family is a gem! Thank goodness they fought for him.
I’ve seen residents with numerous injuries from arm, femur and finger breaks to facial bruises, chest and back bruises and in some cases infected pressure sores. One bed-ridden woman appeared with a laceration across her forehead and cheek.
I fully expect under ObamaCare, the pressure to “dispatch” those occupying the Shadow Land will become intense.
I have learned from observing my friends that it pays to have an educated, alert advocate in the room with you when big medical decisions are being made. Too often, overloaded or incompetent medical personnel make questionable decisions that the patient and his family don't find out about until much later.
Ever wonder why no independent autopsy was performed on Terry Schiavo’s body prior to the hasty cremation of her remains?
Poor man. He’s been through so much, and yet he has such a wonderful attitude.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzgGTTtR0kc
I’m with you, OpusatFr. I’ve actually developed my own little informal ministry advocating for the vulnerable elderly. I’ve learned to always assume the person CAN hear what is said; therefore, every word said around a person like this should be filtered, monitored, and POSITIVE.
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