Terry Wallace. Coming out of a coma: being held hostage by your own body
Nicholas Schiff and his colleagues from medical college Weill Medical College of Cornell University carried out a study that lifted the veil on the mystery of the case of Terry Wallis, who was in a coma for almost 20 years and unexpectedly returned to healthy life, fully restoring mental abilities.
Terry Wallis was in a car accident in 1984. He was 19 years old at the time. He was found with multiple brain injuries a day later. The doctors were able to save him from death, but Wallis was in a coma from the very moment of the accident, from which the doctors could not bring him out.
Although his diagnosis - a state of minimal consciousness - was much better than a "vegetative state", with practical point visually there was little difference, since Terry was essentially “absent.”
Cases of patients returning from a state of minimal consciousness are known, but usually such people, even after awakening, remain disabled, bedridden, sometimes communicating with others with only one glance.
Terry struck the doctors... after 19 years. In 2003, he suddenly spoke. After that, in just three days, he learned to walk, and also to recognize his (already 20-year-old) daughter. The latter was the most difficult, since at the moment of awakening Wallis sincerely believed that it was still 1984.
Now, a lengthy study by Cornell doctors has explained the man's miraculous healing.
The scientists used a combination of a number of brain scanning techniques, including a new one called diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), which tracks water molecules. Together, these methods made it possible, firstly, to see new neural networks in the brain, grown to replace those injured in the accident, and secondly, to identify active and forever missing areas of the brain.
It turned out that Wallis gradually grew new structures in his brain, and their shape and location did not correspond to normal anatomy. In fact, the brain created alternative circuits for a variety of its functional areas, not copying those networks that died in the accident, but building new ones where it worked.
Also, an analysis of the difference between images taken two months after Terry returned to consciousness and 18 months later showed that some of the newly grown nerve networks were unsuccessful and then “turned off” again, while others, on the contrary, were more activated and strengthened even more. as Wallis showed better and better results.
This case, Schiff believes, firstly, significantly pushes back the limits of the brain’s ability to self-repair previously known to scientists, and secondly, it again raises the problem of people who are diagnosed with a “vegetative state”, but who, perhaps, still have a chance to return To normal life. Reliably determining the difference between a truly vegetative state and minimal consciousness is still a challenge.
Don’t believe what they show in movies: in reality, coma is a very serious, dangerous and mysterious condition. Most often it lasts a couple of weeks, but there are cases when people are “stuck” for several months, or even years. How longer person is in a coma, the less likely he is to come out of it.
1. Sam Carter
In 2008, 60-year-old pensioner Sam Carter fell into a coma as a result of severe anemia. He remained in this condition for three days, and the prognosis for his recovery was only 30%. On the advice of the doctor, the wife put headphones on him and turned on music. Surprisingly, at the sound of the Rolling Stones song “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” Sam opened his eyes. He said that it was this song that gave him strength and pulled him out of his coma. The song had special meaning for him as it was the first single record he bought at age 17.
2. Sarah Thomson
In 2012, 32-year-old Sarah Thomson spent 10 days in a coma due to a blood clot in her brain. When she came to, she thought it was 1998, called the Spice Girls her favorite group, and had no idea that Michael Jackson had died. In addition, she did not recognize her children and husband. In 1998, Thomson was 19 years old, had just given birth to her first child and was living with her first husband, so after a coma she was looking for her baby child. Later, Sarah began to behave like a teenager: she rebelled, listened to loud rock music and dyed her hair wild colors. Over time, she adapted and (according to her) fell in love with her husband again.
3. Ben McMahon, Sandra Ralic and Michael Boatwright
Australian Ben McMahon studied French and Chinese, but was not fluent in them. In 2012 he got into car accident, after which he spent a week in a coma. When Ben woke up, he spoke in the purest Chinese and couldn't speak English. Ben later remembered English, but did not lose the ability to speak Chinese. 13-year-old Croatian Sandra Ralić studied German, and after a 24-hour coma she spoke German, not native language. Finally, amazing story American Michael Boatwright. When he woke up on hospital bed, he spoke Swedish and claimed his name was Johan Ek. In the past, Boatwright lived in Sweden with his Swedish girlfriend. Such linguistic miracles still remain an unexplored medical phenomenon.
4. Fred Hersch
Jazz pianist Fred Hersh was diagnosed with AIDS in the early 90s, and in 2008 the consequences of the disease led to the development of dementia. Hersh then went into septic shock and, as a result, was in a coma for almost two months. After awakening, he spent 10 months in bed, but nevertheless continued to play the piano, which, according to him, became his main stimulus. By 2010, he was performing live again. By the way, Hersh remembered eight of his dreams from a coma and wrote a 90-minute concert “My Dreams in a Coma.”
5. Jarrett Carland
In 2009, 17-year-old Jarrett Cardend was involved in a car accident. His friend died, but Carland survived, but remained in a vegetative state. Part of Jarrett's therapy was listening to music. Patients mostly listened to quiet and calm music, and Jarrett's parents played him country singer Charlie Daniels and his song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." After four months Jarrett woke up in a coma. Six months later on music festival the young man personally met with the singer to thank him.
6. Jan Grzebski
In 1988, railway worker Jan Grzebski suffered a head injury while trying to connect two cars and was in a coma for 19 years. When he woke up, the world became completely different. Poland was no longer a communist country, and he already had 11 grandchildren growing up. The Pole's story was replicated by the press around the world, although Grzebski himself claimed that his story was somewhat exaggerated, since he was in a coma for only four years, and then remained paralyzed and mute for more than 11 years.
7. Gary Dockery
Policeman Gary Dockery was 33 years old when he was shot in the head. Doctors performed surgery on him, removing 20% of the damaged brain, but did not risk removing the bullet. For more than seven years (until 1996), Dockery lay in a coma, and then came to his senses and began to speak. He remembered his family and events from the past, and also recognized his already grown sons. But he remembered absolutely nothing about the shootout and his wound. Alas, a year after this, Gary Dockery died of a blood clot in his lung.
8. Sarah Scantlin
In 1984, 18-year-old college student Sarah Scantlin was killed by a drunk driver. The brain injuries were so extensive that she fell into a coma for a month, after which all she could do was breathe on her own and swallow food. After 16 years spent in the hospital, a specialist began working with Sarah, trying to establish interaction, and a year later the first results appeared. Sarah began to react to the actions by screaming. In 2005, 20 years after the accident, Sarah uttered her first word and then began speaking again. She moves in wheelchair, can communicate with people, but this 40-year-old woman still thinks she's only 18.
9. Terry Wallis
In 1984, 19-year-old Terry Wallis and his friend were involved in an accident and their car fell into a pond. The friend died and Terry, who was found the next day, fell into a coma. That was until 2003, when Terry began speaking again. His first word was "mama", then "Pepsi" and "milk", and then followed complete sentences. He remembered everything well, but had no idea how much time had passed. Its president was still Ronald Reagan. Wallis remained paralyzed, but learned to speak quite tolerably. Doctors believe that over 19 years, Terry's brain "rewired" itself and turned on.
10. Hayley Putre
When Hayley was 4 years old, her mother was taken away parental rights, and the baby was given to the care of her aunt, in whose family she lived for 7 years. In 2005, an 11-year-old girl was hospitalized with brain damage after being beaten by her foster parents. She fell into a coma, and doctors were confident that she would remain in a vegetative state forever. In 2008 social services decided to turn off the life support apparatus due to the hopelessness of the condition. On the day this decision was approved, Hayley began breathing on her own and responding to commands. Then she began to smile and say a few words. Now the girl mainly communicates using a special typesetting board attached to her wheelchair.
Translated from ancient Greek, the word “coma” means deep sleep. In this state, a person undergoes physiological decline, loses reactions and reflexes, but continues to breathe and live.
Often the coma ends in the death of the patient. But sometimes miracles happen and awakening occurs. The most long coma in the world, the awakening lasted almost 19 years. This case changed the opinions of doctors about the comatose state and gives hope to many people.
It all happened in Stone County, Arkansas. On July 13, 1984, a young farmer and auto mechanic, Terry Wallis, who was 20 years old at the time (born April 7, 1964), decided to go for a ride with his friend Chub Lowell in a pickup truck. The car had an accident and fell from the bridge from a height of almost 8 meters.
The pickup truck was found lying on its roof in a dry river bed. Rescuers rescued Terry, who suffered a head injury and was already in a coma, as well as Csab, who had a serious spinal injury, who died a week later.
All internal organs and Terry's bones were intact. He received only minor bruises and, most importantly, a small abrasion above his eyebrow. It is likely that it was this blow that led the guy to a comatose state.
- A young farmer and auto mechanic before the tragedy.
With his wife Sandy.
A touching photo of Terry in a coma, together with his daughter, who less than a year. He will only be able to communicate with her when she is 20 years old.
With his wife (left) and daughter (right).
Staying in a coma
Following the accident, Terry was admitted to a local hospital. The doctors gave him a chance and said that if he woke up within a year, then the likelihood of continuing a normal life was quite high.
But Terry did not come to his senses. Not in a year, not in five years, not even in fifteen.
His parents Angela and Jerry Wallis continued to believe in miracles. They went into serious debt to pay for their son's life support. They did not lose heart, even though the doctors were already giving disappointing forecasts.
Keeping Terry alive cost about $30,000 a month. He was denied medical insurance. The Terry Wallis Foundation was created, but only raised about $1,000.
4 months before the tragedy he had a wedding. And 6 weeks before the accident, Terry gave birth to a daughter, who was named Amber. His wife Sandy remained faithful to him for three years his stay in a coma. But then she married another man and gave birth to three more children.
Terry's parents did not condemn Sandy, but they characterized her from the bad side. Sendy explained her departure by saying that Amber needed a father, and she herself was not ready to sacrifice her youth for the sake of the insignificant chance of her husband’s recovery.
Meanwhile, Terry's parents and other relatives continued to support him in every possible way. They read books to him, turned on radio programs, and talked to him. On every holiday, everyone gathered together in his room, fed holiday dishes(grinded in a blender), gave him gifts, which they laid out on his bed, and rolled him around the hospital.
Almost 19 years passed like this.
Coming out of a coma
On June 11, 2003, Angela Wallis was perhaps even happier than when she gave birth to her Terry, because on that day he came out of his coma. All his relatives had been waiting for this for 18 years, 10 months and 28 days. This is how long the longest coma in the world lasted with awakening.
Terry Wallis woke up. He had not seen the world for almost 19 years. He recognized his parents, was surprised when they told him that he was married, but then he remembered that he had a daughter, who, of course, last time I saw it only in infancy.
When Amber came to him, he told her that she was not his daughter, since his daughter was 1.5 months old, and she was sitting in front of him adult girl. But later he realized the time had passed. Parents showed photos of Amber in different years. Later, he told his daughter that he must get well in order to come up and hug her, and also that he regrets that he did not see with his own eyes how she grows up.
Although Terry Wallis was conscious and able to communicate, he suffered from amnesia. He remembered only the most impressive moments of his life. He could listen to a tune he had recently heard (he liked country music) again, as if he was hearing it for the first time. From past life he remembered how he was doing housework on the farm, and also some time before the fateful trip, he remembered how he was getting ready to go. After waking up, Terry could not move; he could only turn his head in one direction.
In addition, after emerging from a coma, Terry lost all tact in conversation and could directly tell a person what he thought about him, he forgot how to lie. So, one day he told a nurse at the hospital that he thought she was sexy and would like to make love to her.
Photo with his mother Angela, who looked after him in a coma and after waking up.
Terry Wallis is in a coma.
The mother devotes every free minute to her son.
Grandson, granddaughter, daughter and Terry himself.
Angela Wallis heroically persevered throughout the 19 years.
Mother and father.
Terry Wallis' brother and other relatives prepare to be interviewed.
Sandy, wife. In the foreground family photo and marriage certificate.
Wallis lost the ability to feel full. Therefore, it was necessary to feed him strictly in doses. He could not understand that he had already eaten enough, for which he could feel resentment towards his family, since he believed that he was underfed. Despite a sedentary lifestyle and good food, he did not gain weight.
After the coma, he began to have a negative attitude towards bad habits scolded relatives for cigarettes and alcohol. Angela believed that her son communicated with angels during a coma and therefore became so correct (and also could not lie). He himself said that he was very happy to live and life is the most beautiful thing.
Terry Wallis became famous. His ex-wife Sandy tried to take custody of him through the courts to make money, his parents said, but they remained guardians. He starred in documentaries"Bodyshock" (2003) and "Coma" 2007. His story has become the subject of study for many doctors.
- The longest coma in the world with awakening was that of Terry Wallis and lasted 18 years, 10 months and 28 days, from July 13, 1984 to June 11, 2003. Terry was in a car accident.
- July 13, 1984 - the day of the Terry Wallis tragedy, it was Friday the 13th.
- In some media, probably for dramatic reasons, they indicate July 13, 2013 as the date of awakening, in order to later write that he woke up exactly on the day when he crashed his car. But the correct date for Terry's awakening is June 11, 2003.
- Three years after the onset of the coma, his wife married another man, having three year old daughter from Terry.
- Some sources indicate that Wallis and his friend were drunk at the time of the accident. But relatives claim that the guys did not drink alcohol that evening. They probably could have hidden this fact so as not to spoil their reputation.
- Some media reported that Terry's daughter became a stripper. It is not true. Amber has a family - a husband, children and has always led a decent lifestyle.
- Relatives created the Terry Wallis Foundation, which raised only about $1,000, while it cost about $30,000 a month to maintain life.
- When he woke up, he asked for mineral water.
- As of 2018, nothing is known about Terry or his family.
- In fact, the longest coma in the world was that of Eduardo O'Bara and lasted 42 years. When the girl was 16 years old, she fell into a diabetic coma and died at the age of 59 without waking up.
Reasons for leaving their coma
Experts are inclined to believe that Wallis came out of a coma due to the fact that his brain built the old neural pathways that were destroyed due to injury. This allowed him to partially restore consciousness. However, he was unable to completely improve his condition.
Some also claim that Terry's brain contains new neural pathways that are not found in other people's brains.
Terry Wallis now
As of the end of 2018, unfortunately, no data could be found on Terry Wallis. It is unknown whether he is alive, and if so, what is the state of his health. The fate of his relatives is also unknown.
ALL PHOTOS
IN THE USA more than a year a miracle happened ago. Terry Wallace from Arkansas woke up after 19 years in a coma. On June 12, 1984, 20-year-old Wallace and a friend went for a ride in the surrounding mountains - presumably after drinking heavily. The car fell off a cliff, the friend died, and Terry fell into a coma. The doctors said there was no hope that he would ever come to his senses. “Dead zone” is what experts call a coma that lasts more than a year. However, unexpectedly for his family and doctors, he woke up on June 12, 2003 - exactly 19 years later. This is a unique case, the like of which has never happened in the world. His awakening from a coma became a worldwide sensation. An interview with a man who actually returned from the other world was published on Wednesday by the Argumenty i Fakty newspaper. The publication's correspondent visited Terry at his home.
“Terry, lying in bed, looks at me with a curious gaze. In a matter of seconds, he will forget who I am and will not understand where I came from,” the journalist notes.
Wallace only remembers what happens in the last four minutes. Short-term amnesia, a phenomenon popular in melodramas, looks scary in reality. Especially when Terry constantly asks again, looking at the person who is talking to him: “Mom, do we have guests?” Wallace has flashes when he remembers some things for four hours, some even a month, but for this they need to make a strong impression on him.
One of the strangest abilities that Wallace developed after his coma is that he is extremely frank and always tells only the truth. After a coma, the so-called “filter” does not work, when a person thinks what to say and what not to say. He probably only person in a world that speaks only the truth. When a beautiful nurse came to see him, he said to her, looking into her eyes: “You are pretty. I would like to sleep with you.”
Fortunately, the woman was caught with humor. He truly seemed to be in another dimension all these long years. Wallace is forty years old, but he looks only 25, or at most a stretch of thirty. “Well preserved,” the daughter jokes.
After waking up, he easily recognized his father and mother and recognized the doctor. But when his 20-year-old daughter Amber came to him (she was one and a half months old on the fateful day of the car accident), he was surprised: “My daughter is infant, and who are you?!" They showed him all the photographs of Amber - how she grew up, how she went to school, how she got married. He cried: "Lord, I didn’t even see how my daughter grew up - you are as beautiful as me happy.” And he said: “Then everything is serious, I definitely have to learn to walk so that I can come up and hug you.” It’s more difficult with my wife. Six months after Terry fell into a coma, she took a lover and moved in with him. She said, that there is only one life, and whether her husband will come to his senses is absolutely unknown, and she does not want to ruin her youth.
“We don’t blame her,” says Angeli, Terry’s mother. “But it’s bad that she won’t give him a divorce, even though she already has three children with another man. She thinks that since he’s now famous, she’ll make a lot of money from him.” . His wife came to him once, Terry recognized her, but did not believe that they were married: “If so, then why does she have children from someone else? I can't understand this. She must be joking."
Terry is completely stuck in the past tense. He still thinks Ronald Reagan is the president, just like in 1984. He was informed that Reagan had died. He could not recover from the shock: “How did he die? He’s only been president for four years.” In the recent elections, he demanded to see the ballot. Not finding Reagan there, he said with a sigh that he was being played, and voted for Bush - “he is also a Republican.”
Wallace physically cannot imagine being in oblivion for 19 years. For the first month, Terry was simply in constant shock, repeating: “This can’t be - it can’t be.” Now he cannot remember who exactly was driving the car in June 1984, he or his friend. The memory ends at the moment when they are just getting ready to go somewhere: one of them then got behind the wheel drunk. When the mother ran to the hospital after the disaster, she did not believe that her son was in a coma. Terry had every bone intact, only a tiny abrasion above his eyebrow, but due to a strong blow to the head during the fall, the blood supply to the brain was disrupted. After 10 years, the parents lost all hope that Terry would come to his senses.
“The first year we really believed,” explains Jerry, Wallace Jr.’s father, as he lights his fifth cigarette. “But after five years, faith began to weaken. The doctor immediately said: “If he hasn’t come to his senses in a year, it’s a hundred percent that he won’t wake up.” never." Amber believed more than us - she constantly ran to church and prayed that her father would wake up and see what she had become. After 10 years, I stopped believing at all and came to terms with the fact that I would never hear the words of my son. His awakening it was like thunder for me clear skies. I immediately thought: this is a joke. But such things are not jokes."
Year after year went by. Terry was in a coma, but Jerry and Angeli categorically refused to disconnect him from the life support system (this is what they do with “comatoses” after receiving the consent of their relatives). Although such patients are usually “turned off” after less than a year, less often after three: not everyone can afford to pay huge bills for life (if you can call it life) loved one. Sometimes it's not even about the money - it's just hard to watch. Responding to an persistent Japanese journalist, who was actively interested in why the family did not “turn off” Terry, but continued, getting into terrible debts, persistently paying for his many years of stay in the Mountain View hospital, Jerry snapped: “Listen, guy, what if you they gave you a gun and told you to shoot your unconscious child, would you do that?” The Japanese couldn't find an answer.
On weekends, the family took the “comatose” home from the hospital - just as they did on Christmas and Thanksgiving. His bed was moved towards festive table, put gifts on the blanket, talked to him for hours, without receiving any response, about the news of their lives, even told fresh jokes. They tried not to think that he was in a coma. They just imagined that he was tired and sleeping, and absolutely normal, like other people.
Terry hears last words and gets offended: “Why imagine, I’m already normal.” “Of course, of course,” Angeli laughs. She generally laughs and jokes often. "I've cried so much over the years that now I can have fun."
“It all happened somehow strange!” explains Angeli excitedly. “The nurse, as usual, points Terry at me and says: “Look who came to us!” Suddenly he looks at me and says: “Mom.” I automatically answer : “Yes, son?” And then it dawned on me: “Lord, he’s talking!!!” I’ve been waiting for this for so many years, but when it happened, I thought I was dreaming. I called Amber, she immediately jumped into the car and drove away. three hours to see her father speak. She was already pregnant then, and Terry then said: “Wake up after 19 years and find out what I have.” adult daughter, - it was a shock. But to receive the news that I will soon become a grandfather, this could cause me to fall into a coma again!”
The first thing Terry did when he woke up was ask for a soda.
"I immediately rushed and brought him a jar. It was replicated on television, the owners trademark received free advertising. Here, a man just came to his senses after 19 years of coma and immediately asks for our drink: we tried to shake something out of them, but they flatly refused to pay,” says Angeli.
Terry dreams that he will get back on his feet and be able to drive. “I really want to ride in a jeep. And I would definitely go fishing!”
“After the coma, he became very correct,” says Angeli. “He scolds us for smoking and drinking. Why, he says, tar one by one, you’re killing yourself, quit immediately. And there’s no point in drinking alcohol: from him, they say , terrible things happen. Like, he himself never drank or smoked. He doesn’t remember at all that before the coma he drank a pack a day and loved to sip beer. I sometimes think: where did he go that he started talking like that? an angel, not my son?"
Terry's fingers look like they are broken; they bend in any direction, as if there were no bones in them. Over 20 years of lying motionless, all his muscles have atrophied, he needs to learn to control his body again, to revive every centimeter of it, and this is very difficult. Now he can move his arms and legs and rise up. And after I woke up, I could only turn my head in one direction. When you first look at him, he gives the impression of a man who has suffered a serious stroke. But this is not so - over 19 years, his body has forgotten the simplest things for us: how to turn on the light or open the door. Terry’s family was greatly amused by Tarantino’s film “Kill Bill,” where the heroine, after five years of coma, in a couple of hours completely takes control of her initially disobedient body: “Oh, if only it were like that,” Angeli laughs. “Then I would have sent my son to work on the farm a long time ago.” “There’s no point in messing around, let him earn money for his family.” After all, at first, even just turning his head cost him inhuman tension.”
Now Terry's treatment (including special therapy for the development of atrophied limbs) costs $32,000 a month, and the family has already fallen into colossal debts that it is unlikely to ever pay off. Enthusiastic New York bohemians created the Terry Wallace Foundation, but donations amounted to less than a thousand dollars: as Jerry suggests, because people think: the case is sensational, the government must have taken care of it. And the government (like all other governments in the world) promised a lot and delivered little. This is how they live. And the doctors don’t believe that he will ever start walking.
"Doctors think we're crazy for believing that!" - says Angeli.
Jerry doesn't particularly trust doctors after his son's return from a coma: "They said no one chance, and he came to his senses." No one could clearly explain what called Terry back to this world (after all, he woke up on the same day when he fell into a coma in 1984), so Wallace’s family is sure: God did it. Experts believe : Terry needs about 20 years to return to a normal life. But this doesn’t bother the parents - they’ve already waited enough, they can wait another 40 years, says Jerry.
What's most interesting is that Terry's internal organs - heart, liver, kidneys - in perfect order, they are almost the same as those of a 25-year-old, so it is possible that he can easily live a hundred years (cautious doctors again allow him about 20 years of life). His family is trying in every possible way to make his life more active. Terry doesn’t like to watch TV - he’ll forget everything in four minutes anyway, but he loves listening to country music - he’ll just listen to one song and they’ll put it on again, and it’ll be like new to him. “The doctor said: the patient needs rest,” Jerry grumbles. “But I don’t think so. What peace, he’s already been resting for 19 years!”
They feed him every two hours, but carefully - after the coma, Terry completely lost the feeling of fullness: if you give him a bull, he will eat it - so he is a little offended by his family for not letting him eat as much as he wants. Although, strangely, Wallace does not gain weight at all, no matter how much he eats. Even being bedridden, unable to walk two steps, he enjoys life and constantly says: “Mom, you can’t even imagine what a pleasure it is to live.”
“He is not recovering as quickly as we would like, but still,” Angeli smiles. “I hope that in a year he will be able to take his first steps. We try to talk to him constantly so that he develops his speech. But at first it was generally It’s not clear what he’s saying, he just babbles like a three-year-old child. We could only guess what he wanted to say.”
Terry does not part with a children's toy - a stuffed monkey.
“This is his talisman, his grandfather gave it to him as a child,” explains Angeli. “He immediately remembered it after the coma, he said, give it to me, suddenly it will bring happiness.”
Dr. James Zini, who has treated Terry Wallace since 1984, says the case is extraordinary.
"I would call it a miracle that cannot be explained. Terry Wallace was in a 'vegetable state' for 19 years, I observed him all this time in the hospital: such people never develop the ability to speak and communicate. I have had patients who were in coma 10 and 12 years old. They never woke up, and in fact, after a year of coma, there is little chance: at least, I have not heard of such cases. I examined Terry thoroughly, but could not find a medical reason why he regained consciousness. Not as a doctor, but as a person, I can say - it seems to me that he was saved by the love of his family, who took care of him all these years: he never stopped being part of their family. Basically, unfortunately, if there is no improvement, those who fall into a coma are disconnected from life support systems. Of course, Wallace is now practically paralyzed, but he is already improving his speech. One can recall the case of the actor Christopher Reeves, who played in “Superman,” who gradually improved his ability to move - even if it took a lot of time: if he had not died, who knows what would have happened. But, to be honest, I don’t think Terry will be able to walk, although doctors are now researching the restoration of the motor nerve, and, as far as I know, doctors in your country are also seriously working on this problem. Most likely, Terry woke up even earlier, but he simply could not speak and did not understand what was happening around him, he was afraid of the surrounding reality. He understood only one thing - that his family loved him."
Although his case is the only one so far, nevertheless, after he returned from a coma, relatives of the “comatose” in Arkansas almost stopped disconnecting their loved ones from life support systems. Because they realized: there is hope.
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The medical phenomenon of coma, unfortunately, has not been fully studied by specialists. The reason why a person falls into such a state may be various abnormalities in the body. In total, there are about 30 types of coma: alcoholic, traumatic, diabetic, etc. It is not so important which form deprived a person of the opportunity to live a full life, much more important is how it ended. The longest coma after which a person woke up is a miracle that doctors cannot explain.
Sarah Scantlin
Young 18-year-old college student Sarah Scatlin spent 20 long years in a coma. The reason for this state of the girl from American state Kansas became a driver who was driving under the influence. After the accident, Sarah fell into a coma, and lived only thanks to devices that supported the vital functions of the body.
The traumatic brain injury was so serious that the girl did not show any signs of life for the first month, and her body functioned with the help of the device artificial respiration. A month later, the only thing Sarah could do was breathe on her own and swallow food. She was in this position for 16 years. After for long years being in a coma, a specialist began working with her, trying to return the girl to real life. And the miracle still happened. After only a year of such classes, Sarah began to show her first independent reflexes. She could communicate with others only through eye movements.
![](https://i2.wp.com/topkin.ru/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/5750a2289ddc6.image_.jpg)
In 2005, after twenty years in a coma, the girl woke up and gradually began to remember her loved ones. She could only move with the help of a wheelchair. Not a single doctor could explain such an “awakening”; according to them, this case is more a happy exception to the rule than a pattern. The only thing that confused Sarah's family was that she still considered herself 18 years old. Gradually, her speech and some motor reflexes returned.
![](https://i1.wp.com/topkin.ru/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/nbrecover_t640.jpg)
Gary Dockery
The longest coma with awakening was recorded in Tennessee. Gary Dockery was 33 years old when he was shot in the head while trying to apprehend a bandit with his partner. The injury resulting from the injury was so severe that doctors had to remove about 20% of the brain matter. After such manipulations, the former policeman spent seven years in an unconscious state.
![](https://i0.wp.com/topkin.ru/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/top10_coma_gary.jpg)
And when hope left his family, he suddenly came to his senses and even remembered the members of his family, despite the fact that his sons had become very big. He remembered nothing about the day he was wounded or his work. Unfortunately, Gary left this world a year after emerging from his coma. The cause was a blood clot in the lungs.
Martin Pistorius
The story of this young man, who had to remain unconscious for 12 years, is very unusual. As a rule, people in a coma do not feel anything, but Martin, on the contrary, understood everything, he simply could not react to what was happening, being, as if, in captivity. The reason for the boy’s condition was a simple sore throat, which caused complications in his legs, and later his vision began to disappear.
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Doctors assumed cryptococcal meningitis, but were unable to make an accurate diagnosis. Since the hospital could no longer help Martin, he was discharged home. Doctors assumed that the boy, who was only 8 years old at the time, would not live long.
But fate decreed completely differently. Thanks to the love and care of his parents, and above all, his father, after 12 years the young man came to his senses. During this time, his father took the boy every day to a special rehabilitation center, still hoping that a miracle will happen. As Martin himself later recalled, he was very annoyed by the cartoons that were shown to the children in this institution, but he could not do anything or say about it.
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After emerging from a coma, Martin Pistorius learned to write and read, went to college, where he received a profession as a programmer, and later a job in one of the state companies. Today, Martin has a good, caring wife and, despite the fact that he uses a wheelchair, lives a full life. This South African teenager's case is, unfortunately, one of the few happy examples coming out of a coma.
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Yang Liying
In 1996, a Beijing resident fell into a coma as a result of gas poisoning. At that time he was 51 years old, and no one hoped that after 13 years of unconscious existence the man would be able to wake up. All these years he had a devoted wife next to him, thanks to whose efforts this miracle may have happened.
It was her name that Yang Liying suddenly came to his senses said. After many years of coma, he has to learn to eat and talk in a new way, as well as get acquainted with the world, which has changed greatly during his “absence”.
Terry Wallace
This man is from American town Cornel spent about 17 years in a coma. In 1984, at the age of 19, he was involved in a car accident and survived only by a miracle. His friend, who was in the car with him at the time of the tragedy, died immediately, and Terry fell into a comatose state. None of the doctors gave any comforting forecasts about his condition.
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In 2001, he began to show the first signs of intelligent behavior and tried to communicate with the clinic staff through gestures and facial expressions. Two years later, Terry started talking, and what’s most amazing is that in almost three days he learned to walk again. The hardest thing for him was to remember his family (his daughter was already 20 years old at that time) and the circumstances that happened to him almost 2 decades ago.
Edward O'Bar
The record holder for the duration of unconscious existence is Eduarda O’Bara, whom journalists dubbed “Sleeping Snow White.” How long did the longest coma last, which, unfortunately, did not end as happily as the previous examples? Almost half a century - this woman spent 42 years in a coma and passed away in 2012. She fell into this state after a diabetic coma, and despite the fact that her eyes were open, she felt nothing and did not understand what was happening around.
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For many years, her mother, Kay, was next to her, who selflessly cared for her daughter for 35 years. She threw her birthday parties, washed and fed her, and talked to her. In 2008, when her mother passed away, her sister, Colin, took over all responsibilities for caring for the sick Eduarda. She says she was able to learn a lot from her sister, even though it was impossible to communicate with her. After 4 years, Eduarda left after her mother.
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Such examples of love and loyalty towards their loved ones should make many people appreciate the time while our loved ones are healthy, and even in the most hopeless cases, not despair and not betray them.