A MAN has shared the terrifying reality of living trapped in his own body “like a ghost” for more than a decade – unable to speak, move or let anyone know he was awake.
Martin Pistorius, 47, from Johannesburg, South Africa, came home from school with a sore throat when he was 12.
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His condition rapidly worsened and he was diagnosed with cryptococcal meningitis and cerebral tuberculosis in hospital.
Martin’s body became weaker and he lost the ability to speak and control his movements, leaving him mute and confined to a wheelchair.
His parents were told he had an unknown degenerative disease that left him in a vegetative state, with the mind of a baby and less than two years to live.
However, in reality, his mind returned after four years, despite still being unable to communicate or move, leaving him a prisoner of his own body.
He said LabBible: “I was able to hear, see and understand everything around me, but I had absolutely no power or control over anything.
“For me, this feeling of complete and utter helplessness is probably the worst feeling I have ever experienced and I hope I never have to experience it again.
“It’s as if you don’t exist, everything in your life is decided by someone else.”
Although everyone assumed he was still in a coma, Martin’s mind was free and he was forced to rely heavily on his imagination to entertain himself.
He said he “lived” in his mind to the point where he sometimes “was oblivious to the world around him.”
Some caregivers abused him, believing he was unaware of his surroundings, he said.
Speaking in a TEDx Talk, he said: “With no way to communicate, I became the perfect victim: a helpless object, seemingly devoid of feelings that people used to fulfill their darkest desires.
“For more than 10 years, the people charged with caring for me abused me physically, verbally and sexually.
“Despite what they thought, I felt it. The first time this happened, I was shocked and filled with disbelief.
“How could they do this to me? I was confused. What did I do to deserve this? Part of me wanted to cry and another part of me wanted to fight.
“Hurt, sadness and anger flooded me. I felt useless. There was no one to comfort me.
“But neither of my parents knew this was happening. I lived in terror, knowing this would happen again and again.
“I just never knew when. All I knew was that I would never be the same.”
PATH TO RECOVERY
He longed for the day when someone would realize his mind was active again, so he could free himself from his reality.
His world changed in 2001, when he was 25, after Virna van der Walt, an aromatherapist at the day center where he lived, “convinced” that he was reacting to things she said.
She encouraged his parents to take him to the Center for Augmentative and Alternative Communication at the University of Pretoria, where he underwent testing.
Within a year, he began using computer programs to communicate and his body began to regain strength.
I was perceived as an inanimate object, the stupid ghost of a boy in a wheelchair
Martin Pistorius
He got his first job as a photocopier before landing a job in IT and a dog he had “dreamed about for years.”
Martin met his now-wife Joan in 2008 through his sister Kim and they married the following year, helping him “challenge my own misconceptions about myself”.
He said: “I was once perceived as an inanimate object, the stupid ghost of a boy in a wheelchair.
“Today I am much more. A husband, a son, a friend, a brother, a businessman, a first-class graduate, an enthusiastic amateur photographer.
“It’s my communication skills that gave me all this.”
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What is a vegetative state and is it possible to recover
What is a vegetative state?
A vegetative state occurs when someone is awake but shows no signs of consciousness.
A person in a vegetative state may be able to:
- open their eyes
- waking up and falling asleep at regular intervals
- have basic reflexes (such as blinking when startled by a loud noise or withdrawing their hand when it is squeezed tightly)
- able to regulate heartbeat and breathing without assistance
However, someone in a vegetative state does not show significant responses. For example, they will not be able to follow an object with their eyes or respond to voices.
They also show no signs of emotions.
If a person has been in a vegetative state for more than four weeks, they are considered to be in a continuous vegetative state.
If it has been more than six months and it is caused by a non-traumatic brain injury, or more than 12 months if it is caused by a traumatic brain injury, it is considered a permanent vegetative state.
Is recovery possible?
If a person is diagnosed with a permanent vegetative state, recovery is extremely unlikely, but not impossible.
Recovery depends on the type of brain injury the patient suffered, their age, how long they have been in the condition, and the severity of the injury.
A non-traumatic brain injury can be the result of an illness in the body.
A traumatic injury is often the result of a violent attack, a fall, a gunshot wound, or even a bomb explosion.
It is extremely unlikely that people in a permanent vegetative state will recover from a brain injury, although it is not impossible.
On July 30, 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that a man with extensive brain damage should die without his family going before a judge.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
