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St. Petersburg, FL (LifeNews.com) -- The family of Terri Schiavo says news about a man in a coma for 20 years who awoke from it and regained his speech and movement capabilities shows the limitations of diagnosing a permanent vegetative state. Doctors said Terry Wallis was PVS, but he was actually in a minimally conscious state similar to Terri.Like Terri Schiavo, doctors predicted that Terry Wallis would last indefinitely in this condition and not improve. However, Wallis now speaks and interacts and can count to 25 on his own. His brain has rewired itself by growing new connections from those...

Terri's Day means we have nothing to fear but fear itself Kevin Fobbs July 11, 2006 Every period of our nation's history has an establishing measuring point for the culture. It is something that has always embodied a defining moment, some salient point, which earmarks for America's soul when it is time to re-arm and recover its spirit. Is it a mystery that Terry Wallis and his remarkable story of reawakening after nearly 20 years to an America that has literally passed him by is a new reminder of how precious it is to not give up on life no...

On a July evening 22 years ago, 20-year-old Terry Wallis climbed into a pickup truck with two friends and rode off down a rural Arkansas highway. He never came back -- or, more precisely, he never came back the same. The truck went off a bridge. One of Wallis' friends was uninjured; the other died. Wallis barely made it. First, he was in a coma, then in what doctors called a "vegetative state," and then in what they called a "minimally conscious state." He was paralyzed from the neck down and couldn't talk. His parents assumed legal guardianship from his...

Mountain View, Arkansas, July 4, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On Monday The Journal of Clinical Investigation published new research on the recovery of a brain damaged man from his 19 years in a minimally conscious state, adding to the growing evidence that those with “hopelessly” severe brain injuries may be able to recuperate with therapy or other kinds of assistance. The Journal’s research focuses on the sudden recovery of Terry Wallis, who experienced a car wreck in 1984 when he was 19 years old. The accident sheared the nerve connections in his brain, putting him in a minimally conscious state (MCS)...

Case Similar to Terri Schiavo's Has Wife Deciding Her Husband's Fate by Steven Ertelt LifeNews.com Editor May 15, 2005 Jacksonville, FL (LifeNews.com) -- A case similar to that of Terri Schiavo has a Florida woman holding her husband's fate in her hands. Schiavo's family is calling on Jacksonville resident Eliza Thomas to allow her husband to live. Scott Thomas suffered brain injury in September of 2004 and has since been incapacitated and dependent on others. As with Terri, Scott's wife is seeking to move him to a hospice and remove the gastric tube that provides him with food and water....

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - On the surface, it seems so simple: Why end a brain-damaged Florida woman's life when an Arkansas man this summer emerged from a yearslong stupor and asked for a Pepsi? But answers among doctors show how complex the Terri Schiavo question really is, especially when compared to Terry Wallis, who spoke in June for the first time in 19 years. "Some people have tried to compare these two and say that he is proof that she can recover," said Dr. James Zini, the Wallis family doctor. "But you cannot prove that." Schiavo is at the center...

Waking From A Decades-Long Coma...A Stone county [Arkansas] man is beginning the long journey of healing…and catching up on half a lifetime. A tragic accident left Terry Wallis in a coma for almost 20 years. Two weeks ago, he came out of it. Family members say 39-year-old Terry Wallis is a man who never gave up on anything and despite all the odds, his family never gave up on him. Now they're prayers have been answered. It was the early 80's. Madonna's “Crazy For You” was a hit and Terri and Sandi Wallis were crazy for each other. “I loved...