For 23 years Rom Houben was trapped in his own body, unable to communicate with his doctors or family. They presumed he was in a vegetative state following a near-fatal car crash in 1983. But then doctors used a state-of-the-art scanning system on the brain of the martial arts enthusiast, which showed it was functioning almost normally. "I had dreamed myself away," said Houben, now 46, whose real "state" was discovered three years ago and has just been made public by the doctor who rescued him. Steven Laureys, a neurologist at the University of Liège in Belgium, has published a scientific paper saying Houben could be one of many falsely diagnosed coma cases around the world.
But then doctors used a state-of-the-art scanning system on the brain of the martial arts enthusiast, which showed it was functioning almost normally.
"I had dreamed myself away," said Houben, now 46, whose real "state" was discovered three years ago and has just been made public by the doctor who rescued him.
Steven Laureys, a neurologist at the University of Liège in Belgium, has published a scientific paper saying Houben could be one of many falsely diagnosed coma cases around the world.
He gradually realizes that he has lost his arms, legs, and face, but that his mind functions perfectly, leaving him a prisoner in his own body. He tries to die by suffocating himself but he has been given a tracheotomy, which he cannot remove or control. He successfully attempts to communicate with his doctors by banging his head on his pillow in Morse code. His wish is that he may be put in a glass box and tour the country, to show people the true horrors of war. His wish is never granted, however, and it is implied that he will live the rest of his natural life in this condition.
Laureys, who is head of the coma science group and neurology department at Liège University hospital, concluded coma patients are diagnosed falsely "on a disturbingly regular basis". In around 40% of cases diagnosed as vegetative, more careful examination shows there is still some level of consciousness. He examined 44 patients believed to be in a vegetative state, and found that 18 of them responded to communication. "Once someone is labelled as being without consciousness, it is very hard to get rid of that," he told Spiegel magazine, calling for a systematic overhaul of the methods of diagnosis.
"Once someone is labelled as being without consciousness, it is very hard to get rid of that," he told Spiegel magazine, calling for a systematic overhaul of the methods of diagnosis.
And why we need to real careful applying labels to phenomena. It's too easy to move from:
working with phenomena + label
to:
working with label.
Once the latter becomes the predominate mode evidence not supporting the label gets overlooked or ignored.
Houben's is an extreme case of locked-in syndrome, as described by late Elle magazine editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who was completely paralyzed by a stroke except for his left eyelid, in his memoir Le Scaphandre et le Papillon which was made into a film by Julian Schnabel:
Locked-in syndrome is a condition in which a patient is aware and awake, but cannot move or communicate due to complete paralysis of nearly all voluntary muscles in the body except for the eyes. Total locked-in syndrome is a version of locked-in syndrome where the eyes are paralyzed as well.[1] It is the result of a brain stem lesion in which the ventral part of the pons is damaged. The condition has been described as "the closest thing to being buried alive". In French, the common term is "maladie de l'emmuré vivant", literally translated as walled-in alive disease; in German it is sometimes called "Eingeschlossensein".[2] Locked-in syndrome is also known as cerebromedullospinal disconnection,[3] de-efferented state, pseudocoma,[4] and ventral pontine syndrome. Locked-in syndrome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Locked-in syndrome is a condition in which a patient is aware and awake, but cannot move or communicate due to complete paralysis of nearly all voluntary muscles in the body except for the eyes. Total locked-in syndrome is a version of locked-in syndrome where the eyes are paralyzed as well.[1] It is the result of a brain stem lesion in which the ventral part of the pons is damaged. The condition has been described as "the closest thing to being buried alive". In French, the common term is "maladie de l'emmuré vivant", literally translated as walled-in alive disease; in German it is sometimes called "Eingeschlossensein".[2]
Locked-in syndrome is also known as cerebromedullospinal disconnection,[3] de-efferented state, pseudocoma,[4] and ventral pontine syndrome.
Locked-in syndrome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I find Houben extraordinary for having maintained his sanity/self/identity, whatever the word for it is, for so long. Effectively, was it not similar to eternal solitary confinement? Interestingly, he says he did a lot of "meditation":
The Belgian former engineering student, who speaks four languages, said he coped with being effectively trapped in his own body by meditating. He told doctors he had "travelled with my thoughts into the past, or into another existence altogether". Sometimes, he said, "I was only my consciousness and nothing else". The moment it was discovered he was not in a vegetative state, said Houben, was like being born again. "I'll never forget the day that they discovered me," he said. "It was my second birth". <...> Houben hopes to write a book detailing his trauma and his "rebirth".
The moment it was discovered he was not in a vegetative state, said Houben, was like being born again. "I'll never forget the day that they discovered me," he said. "It was my second birth".
<...>
Houben hopes to write a book detailing his trauma and his "rebirth".
I look forward to reading that book. La Chine dorme. Laisse la dormir. Quand la Chine s'éveillera, le monde tremblera.
I'll certainly be in the queue for that book.
