Man awake during 23 year coma – or was he?
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
As widely reported this week in the Daily Mail, abc , msn and other news media, a man in Belgium who was diagnosed with persistent vegetative state 23 years ago after a car crash, was actually consciously aware the whole time!
Incredible as this may be, what might be almost as incredible if found to be true, is the suggestion that the miracle reassessment which appears to have liberated Rom Houben is itself a cruel hoax, or at best self-deluded wishful thinking by the family and medics of the patient.
Paranormal debunker, James Randi and others have dismissed the communication methods apparently used by Mr Houben – Facilitated Communication – whereby another person ‘helps’ type messages on the patient’s behalf, as a discredited fake.
Whatever the truth, we find the story incredible and also incredibly sad. What may be worse is the suggestion that Mr Houben may actually be aware but still trapped in the prison of his own body and unable to communicate, watching others use his hand to type their own messages on his behalf.
If we find out any more on this, we will update this article to let you know.
Quotes from Yahoo article:
While a 23-year error is highly unusual, the wrong diagnosis of patients with consciousness disorders is far too common, according to the study, led by Steven Laureys of Belgium’s Coma Science Group……
Over the years, Houben’s skeptical mother took him to the United States five times for tests. More searching got her in touch with Laureys, who put Houben through a PET scan.
“We saw his brain was almost normal,” said neuropsychologist Audrey Vanhaudenhuyse, who has worked with Houben for three years.
The family and doctors then began trying to establish communication. A breakthrough came when he was able to indicate yes or no by slightly moving his foot to push a computer device placed there by Laureys’ team. Then came the spelling of words using the touchscreen.
Houben’s condition has since been diagnosed as a form of “locked-in syndrome,” in which people are unable to speak or move but can think and reason…..
With so much to say after suffering for so long in silence, Houben has started writing a book.
“He lives from day to day,” his 73-year-old mother said. “He can be funny and happy,” but is also given to black humor.
Recently he went to his father’s grave for the planting of a tree.
“A letter he wrote was lowered into the grave through a tube,” his mother said. “He closed his eyes for half an hour, because he cannot cry.”
There is little hope that Houben’s physical condition will get better, but his mother said she refuses to give up: “We continue to search and search. For 26 years already.”
Undoubtedly there are genuine cases of locked in syndrome and mediated communication, as described in a BBC article. Whatever the truth, miracle revelation and release from silence; cruel hoax; terrible abuse of power; or simple clutching at straws, we hope this unfortunate man and his family find some peace from their suffering soon.
sources:
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