Patient trapped in a 23-year 'coma' was conscious all along

Marky · 23 Nov 2009 at 00:13

Wow I can't imagine how frustrating that must have been for him

Glad they found out though!

GSXRMovistar · 23 Nov 2009 at 00:15

Very eerie stuff, but how does someone not just end up going insane after all those years? :eek:

Stewy · 23 Nov 2009 at 00:21

I literally cannot imagine how frustrated / angry / bored you'd get.

Sinque · 23 Nov 2009 at 00:22

Jesus, that'd be amazingly frustrating to not be able to control your body no matter how much you try. :eek:

Stuff · 23 Nov 2009 at 00:24

That sucks so hard... :/

Cybermyk · 23 Nov 2009 at 00:25

Kill Bill doesn't seem so far fetched now huh?

Horrible thought :eek:

vertica · 23 Nov 2009 at 00:28

mrk said:
That tilt shift effect on the opening photo is amazing!

+1

it would be the most bizare world to wake up to. this guy was in a "coma" before i was born!

arknor · 23 Nov 2009 at 00:29

Sinque said:
Jesus, that'd be amazingly frustrating to not be able to control your body no matter how much you try.

i suffer from a bit of sleep paralysis occasionly and it extremly scary when it first starts happening especially if you wake up lieing on your back only able to breath through your nose which feels blocked

Nash · 23 Nov 2009 at 00:33

mrk wasn't referring to the tilt of the bed but the actual effect of tilt shift. Blurring the edges of a photograph whilst retaining focus in the centre.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilt-shift_photography

Unless it was a joke about the bed?

whitecrook · 23 Nov 2009 at 00:37

Do you think in that situation you'd WANT to die? Or be left there as he has been, unable to communicate. As other said above thats a life worse than death.. or is it?

Jumpingmedic · 23 Nov 2009 at 00:37

If ever there was an argument for writing a living will... this is it.

"andy" · 23 Nov 2009 at 00:39

whitecrook said:
Do you think in that situation you'd WANT to die? Or be left there as he has been, unable to communicate. As other said above thats a life worse than death.. or is it?

i personally would never want to be in that state. but i can see why people would rather that than die

imagine if theyd turned the machines off on the guy :eek:

Raymond Lin · 23 Nov 2009 at 00:51

JoeMama said:
I believe it's not an effect, it's a rotating bed which relieves the pressure from the lungs.

mrk is not talking about the bed, but the lens used (Tilt/shift lens), it's what made part of the photo blur and out of focus. A lens that's used normally in architectural photos to shift the focal plane, but lately people have started to use it for portraiture.

Azza · 23 Nov 2009 at 00:54

That's insane.

Kristoph · 23 Nov 2009 at 00:55

I keep having thoughts of death, the lack of EVERYTHING. This seems like the step before death, once he'd experienced a year or two of this, the rest would have been the 'norm'.

Ziggy · 23 Nov 2009 at 00:58

Andelusion said:
That's a fate worse than death. It's beyond the scope of my imagination at least to try and picture how day to day life would be like that, it's similar to imagining the scale of the universe.

Well said. It's like the guy who was strapped to a bed for a year in Se7en, except 23 times worse.

"andy" said:
imagine if theyd turned the machines off on the guy

I would be glad if it was me.

My grandad once woke up in the middle of an operation. He could feel what they were doing to him but was completely paralysed and couldn't make a noise. He suffered from nightmares and flashbacks for a while after.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anesthesia_awareness

Raikiri · 23 Nov 2009 at 01:00

JoeMama said:
I believe it's not an effect, it's a rotating bed which relieves the pressure from the lungs.

maustin said:
And the tilt is more to do with protecting the skin. The person who is in that picture is attached to a ventilator therefore the pressure that the ventilator is exerting keeps the lungs open.

arknor said:
yea probably stop the need for a nurse to move his body about to stop bed sores

It's been said I know, but he was referring to the lens being used for the picture.

@ mrk: Ordered the parts to make my own TS lens

rotters · 23 Nov 2009 at 01:01

arknor said:
yea probably stop the need for a nurse to move his body about to stop bed sores

JoeMama said:
You can see him fully strapped into the bed. It's to relieve pressure from the lungs to allow his blood to be oxygenated more easily.

this peice of kit is essential to my work as an intensive care nurse and is called a rotarest. We use it in the treatment of ARDS (adult respiratory distress syndrome) some people think it doesnt work but i have great faith in it and have seen dramatic results. as for nurse not having to move patients even with constant movement we still do regular pressure area relieving moves every 3-6 hours. worst thing about them is some patients who are malnurished, having nasogastric feed, lots of IV antibiotics regularly have diarrhoea, which really isnt fun! it takes 5 nurse to move someone on these beds so its not an easy option by far.

more pics http://images.google.co.uk/images?r...esult_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CBwQsAQwAw

as for being locked in a coma for that long, eek is all i can say, what the bloody hell must he have been going through, all the things he will have heard and seen! gosh he must have been in turmoil.

more on ARDS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acute_respiratory_distress_syndrome

rotters

ps i know its probably a mock photo, but that ventilator is from the ark ages! horid horid machine.

thats what we use juast awesome!

Splewis · 23 Nov 2009 at 01:05

Can't imagine the kind of total psychological damage this has done to him. Imagine how long it'll take to reintegrate into society..

Nexus · 23 Nov 2009 at 01:12

Splewis said:
Can't imagine the kind of total psychological damage this has done to him. Imagine how long it'll take to reintegrate into society..

The article clearly states he will never leave hospital, so I don't think he ever will.