Rom Houben was in a tragic car accident in 1983, leaving him in, what doctors thought, was a vegetative state. His family never gave up hope, and insisted that his brain was still functioning. After taking him to the United States for testing on five different occasions, and having sought out the advice of dozens of specialists in Europe, the family finally was able to confirm their belief with the help of Belgium's Coma Science Group. After doing a sophisticated test on Houben, doctors found that he had a normally functioning brain.
Doctors and the family have since been able to devise a system in which he is able to communicate. Originally, he would tap yes or no answers on to a small device by his foot. Now, he is able to tap messages onto a special touch screen monitor mounted to his wheelchair.
“Powerlessness. Utter powerlessness. At first I was angry, then I learned to live with it,” he said, punching the message onto the screen during a recent interview with the Belgian RTBF TV network. He calls his rescue a renaissance.
Doctors around the world are calling what happened to him a shame. “Maybe the diagnosis was missed for so long because it happened 23 years ago. We have better tools now than we did before,” comments Marie Pasinski, M.D., a neurologist with Harvard Medical School. “As physicians we have a responsibility to look at every case with fresh eyes, review the diagnosis, rerun tests and try new tests as they become available.”
For more information:
- AOL Health: Man trapped in his own body for 23 years
- The Guardian UK: Man trapped in his own body for 23 years - the coma victim who screamed unheard
- MSNBC: Man says emergence from 'coma' like rebirth
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Comments
I can't imagine how terrifying it would be to be trapped like that for 23 years. I hope he was still receiving pain medication and everything for any procedures he had to go through
I have a husband his name is Gary Harvey. No one will listen, the county tried to end his life because he became disabled like Rom. I see life and I see hope in my husband. They treat him just like they did Rom or even worse like he is not there.
Someone please help him. His guardains want him dead. They treid in may 2009 and he is still fighting all odds. God is keeping him alive. Google his name and you will find him on NASGA,Not dead yet, Dakota voice,Terri Shiavo foundation.
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