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Man Comes Out Of 19 Year Coma.
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» cloud9ine replied on Thu Jul 10, 2003 @ 12:34pm |
 Coolness: 139435 | MOUNTAIN VIEW, Ark. (AP) - The last time Terry Wallis was conscious of the world around him, Ronald Reagan was president, Bill Clinton was the governor, the Soviet Union was the enemy and the World Trade Center still stood.
Thrown into a stupor after an auto accident in 1984, he recently spoke his first words in 19 years: ``Mom. Pepsi. Milk.'' Only in the last two weeks has the 39-year-old Wallis realized that Reagan no longer is president, answering ``I don't know'' when asked who is in office now. ``He's beginning to realize he's in a different place now,'' said his physician, Dr. James Zini. ``We never thought he'd regain this kind of cognitive level.'' Wallis and a friend were in a car on July 13, 1984, when it ran off the road. Both men were found beneath a bridge the next day. The friend died; Wallis was left a quadriplegic and fell into a coma for three months. He soon emerged partially from the coma. But for 18 years, he could communicate only by blinking his eyes or grunting. Then, on June 13, he called out ``Mom'' to his mother and later asked for a Pepsi. While home from the hospital for a weekend, he said he wanted milk with his breakfast. Since then, he has steadily increased his vocabulary, and he is considered fully emerged from his stupor. Wallis is eager to learn, now that the world is opening up to him again. Propped up in bed Wednesday at the nursing home where he lives, Wallis clutched small blue cushions that have kept his withered hands from closing shut over years of disuse. He tells a visitor that he loves to talk and is happy, but he doesn't acknowledge, or isn't able to explain, the long gap in his life. ``I never had no accident,'' he said. A speech therapist works with Wallis three days a week, and his doctor wants to give him more intensive physical therapy now that he can better comply with instructions. Nurses have been told to ask Wallis open-ended questions to help him develop answers beyond just ``Yes'' and ``No.'' Wallis has re-entered a world where so much was different. The World Trade Center, Pentagon and the Oklahoma City federal building were all attacked by terrorists. The Berlin Wall is gone, as is the Soviet Union. The Internet in 1984 was a loose affiliation of computers of interest only to academics. National League and American League baseball teams never played each other until the World Series. Roger Maris was still the home run king. Wallis' daughter, Amber, was 6 weeks old at the time of the accident. Wallis said it is his goal to walk for her. During a visit with her last month, he was able to tell her, ``You're pretty'' and ``I love you.'' His long-term memory is keen. He remembered the telephone number of a long-dead grandmother and recalled driving a car whose transmission had failed, forcing him to drive in reverse. Over the past 19 years, the Wallis family would pick him up at the Stone County Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and take him home or to family functions. Zini said that probably aided in a gradual recovery that began with him reacting to a six-figure doctor's bill. Eighteen years ago, Wallis shook his head violently when a doctor told the family that medical bills were running about $125,000 - as if to say the price was not acceptable, said his father, Jerry Wallis. Later on, Wallis would react to Chevrolet TV commercials. ``He wouldn't drive a Chevrolet and when the commercials would come on the TV he'd have a fit. He'd shake his head from one side to the other and give some kind of hollering,'' Jerry Wallis said. 07/10/03 08:39 EDT |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» da_instagatah replied on Thu Jul 10, 2003 @ 12:41pm |
 Coolness: 144945 | crazy |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» flatlinedive replied on Thu Jul 10, 2003 @ 2:42pm |
 Coolness: 64620 | all the things he missed, this government thing, that home run, such and such bombing
they mean nothing to his life, he was alive, but didn't know that they happened all milestones in history are in the end, completely meaningless if he doesn't acknowlege the time he missed, did he really miss it? he's done something that very few have, he's rendered time insignificant nothing means anything..... unless you let it..... unless you acknowledge it |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Nuclear replied on Thu Jul 10, 2003 @ 3:23pm |
 Coolness: 2749630 | You believe 1/2 these stories... If I was running the media I would BS everyone laughing my ass off... |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» AlienZeD replied on Thu Jul 10, 2003 @ 3:51pm |
 Coolness: 510275 | you made it sound like it was in a coma for 19 years... blatant false advertising.... BAH!! |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» cloud9ine replied on Thu Jul 10, 2003 @ 4:41pm |
| Coolness: 139435 | um, he was. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Neon_Golden replied on Thu Jul 10, 2003 @ 7:15pm |
| Coolness: 39375 | What i dont get is,
if he was in a coma for 19 years begining, lets say at 20 years old. would his personality, mind, attitude, etc.. remain the same as his initial age. behind by 19 years. and wouldnt you go insane? |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» daFTWin replied on Thu Jul 10, 2003 @ 7:32pm |
 Coolness: 277150 | I wonder if you start living ur subconsience as if it were ur real life.. I mean you never wake up.. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» kitkat replied on Thu Jul 10, 2003 @ 8:15pm |
 Coolness: 71965 | shit...imagine waking up one day and sudenly youre like 20 years older....... |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» soyfunk replied on Thu Jul 10, 2003 @ 9:36pm |
 Coolness: 127485 | i'd have one wicked beard and sell gremlins
possibly be oriental! |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» da_instagatah replied on Fri Jul 11, 2003 @ 9:47am |
| Coolness: 144945 | people he wasnt in the coma for 19 years he could like blink n shit.
and communicate still. read it again |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Toltech replied on Fri Jul 11, 2003 @ 1:44pm |
 Coolness: 146135 | wow....so Soyfunk would be oriental....damn....that's far-out dude. |
Man Comes Out Of 19 Year Coma.
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