Discovery Health - the man who slept 19 years

[NsXMas]

I just watched a fascinating and scary show on Discovery Health.

Terry was a 19 year old teenager who had an accident in Arkansas in 1984. After being in a coma for 19 years, he woke up in June 2003 and started talking (a medical miracle because after being in coma 4-5 years, there is very little possibility of anyone regaining the power of speech or waking from a vegetative state).

Like the movie "50 First Dates", Terry has no capacity for short term memory. Every day is like a new day for Terry, and he is unable to move or realize that his baby daughter is all grown up and 19 now.

They also discussed a British man who was in a minor car accident in the UK. The man blacked out only 10 minutes after the crash. The CT scan showed that the man's brain was 100% normal. However, it appeared that microscopic abrasians to this man's frontal lobes had a terrible effect. This man was unable to love his 3 year old son or his wfie again. The loss of ability to love seriously affected his relationship to his family.

I was glued to the TV the entire show. It's scary how fragile the human brain is, and how susceptible it is to injury, even minor car accidents.

Man I'm glad I always wore motorcycle helmets when I was riding sport bikes before.

Everyone drive safe out there!!

 

[MYNSX]

Crazy dude!!!

 

[Soichiro]

>>He didn't miss much; only the 80's and 90's. no big deal.

Not much?!?!? He missed the debut of our favorite car!

 

[peiserg]

unfortunately it's a pretty common occurence in car wrecks and head trauma in general---negative CT and MRI scans and major brain damage secondary to generalized damage at a neuronal level vs. a gross damage type of thing.... same thing wih the spinal cord (SCIWOR---spinal cord injury without radiological evidence i beleive is the acronym...)

BTW, having not watched that program, i'll wager that after his little "nap" of 19 years, the star of the show wasn't exactly what you'd call a rocket scientist...

 

[95NSXT]

thats pretty crazy they had him on life support or whatever for 19years, must of had a lot of hope he was gonna pull through. thats pretty nutty.

 

[4AU4LIFE]

that's a reality check for you !!

 

[KulSecHskY]

thats pretty crazy they had him on life support or whatever for 19years, must of had a lot of hope he was gonna pull through. thats pretty nutty.

Good point... but would YOU want your family to keep you alive for 19 years? I wouldn't. After the first year of the coma pull the plug.

 

[PHOEN$X]

thats pretty crazy they had him on life support or whatever for 19years, must of had a lot of hope he was gonna pull through. thats pretty nutty.

Imagine all the medical bills you'd have to pay! It would be nearly impossible to dig yourself out of that kind of debt...might as well live at home for the rest of your life.