Man Wakes After Spending 19 Years in a Coma As the Result of a Car Crash; Greets Mother The Associated Press MOUNTAIN VIEW, Ark. July 8 — A man regained consciousness after spending 19 years in a coma as the result of a car crash, greeting his mother who was waiting at his bedside. "He started out with 'Mom' and surprised her and then it was 'Pepsi' and then it was 'milk.' And now it's anything he wants to say," Stone County Nursing and Rehabilitation Center social director Alesha Badgley said Tuesday. Terry Wallis, 39, had been at the Stone County Nursing and Rehabilitation Center since the July 1984 crash. Wallis' wife, Sandi, said he was riding with a friend when their car plunged into a creek. They were found the next day underneath a bridge. The friend was dead and Wallis was comatose. He emerged from the coma about two weeks ago. "It's been hard dealing with it, it's been hard realizing the man I married can't be there," Sandi Wallis said. "We all, the whole family, missed out on his company." Wallis' daughter, Amber, was born shortly before the accident. She is now 19 and Wallis has said he wants to walk again, for her. He is a quadriplegic as a result of the crash. His mother, Angilee Wallis, called her son's return to consciousness a miracle. "I couldn't tell you my first thought, I just fell over on the floor," she said. Wallis has spent most of his time at the rehabilitation center, but his family took him out for weekends and special occasions. "The doctor said that's why he remembers things; we might have kept his mind going," Sandi Wallis said.
WOW. He has sure missed a lot: -The rise of the internet. -The fall of the Berlin Wall. - 2 Gulf Wars - All of the Bush I and Bill Clinton presidencies! He's not gonna get a lot of jokes! -Michael Jordan's 6 rings. - The whole grunge scene and the rise of hip-hop into the mainstream
I don't get it, if he was in a coma, how the hell did his family take him out? It's rather comical to think of walking into Red Lobster with a hospital bed. Maybe it was Weekend At Bernies-esque?
That is a miracle for sure. He's going to be like Rip Van Winkle with all the goings on he has missed.
The silence ended on June 12 when Wallis uttered his first word. He was able to talk a little more a day later and has been improving ever since. Terry's father, Jerry Wallis, said his son talked almost non-stop now but it seemed as though time stopped for him after the crash. Terry still believes Ronald Reagan is the US president. Terry has asked to speak to his grandmother, who died several years ago, and even recited her phone number - something everyone else in the family had forgotten. "You see, he's still back in 1984," said Jerry Wallis. For the family, Terry's return to consciousness has been a blessing. His brother Perry said: "To put it bluntly, it was pure hell to see my brother lying there, not knowing if I'd ever talk to him again." The timing of the recovery also has raised eyebrows. "It's kind of peculiar. He wrecked on Friday the 13th and 19 years later he started talking on Friday the 13th," Jerry Wallis said. taken from a South African newspaper article: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=117&art_id=qw1057753440885B225&set_id=1
No, um, we threw out your parachute pants... What?... Oh, sorry. Your Member's Only jacket too... And, well, we snorted up your stash of coke too.
Sure, normally. There was a story similar to this a few years ago. A woman awoke from a coma from some like number of years.
Yes, but the muscles would be atrophied. Although in this case he can't because he is a quadrapligec (sp?) It's strange that he can actually remember stuff from 1984! So it doesn't feel like a long time to him?
the way i read it...he's been out of his coma for 2 weeks now...so during that 2 weeks they have been taking him out. not while he was in a coma, that would be r****ded. i wouldnt see why someone in a coma couldnt regain the use of their legs, but it appears that this guy became a quadrapeligic due to the car accident.
This makes sense, but the article said weekends and special occasions. I guess one can argue that there can be a substantial amount of special occasions within a wo week span.
The way I understand it is they DID take him out of hospital WHILE he was in a coma. I would imagine it was mostly for holidays and birthdays and such. Commonly, when coma lasts for a month or more, the individual's eyes may be open and may blink even though the person's stare is vacant, no purposeful responses occur, and no signs of awareness appear. At this state, most physicians will say that the individual is in a "persistent vegetative state" or PVS. The father stated in another article that he felt they were communicating with Terry because he would move his mouth or blink his eyes when they spoke to him. For more info on what a coma is: http://www.comarecovery.org/artman/publish/WhatIsComa.shtml
He missed the Rockets championships!! He missed Hakeem Olajuwon's whole career. He lucked out by not seeing those PJ's the Rockets used as uniforms.
