23 years ago a horrific car crash brought an end to Rom Houben’s life as he knew it. Unbeknown to anyone Rom was completely aware that he was trapped inside his own paralyzed body in a coma. Usually when people are in a coma there is no awareness but unfortunately for Rom he remembered everything for those long 23 years.
Of course when a person receives so many horrible injuries that they can no longer respond and appear to be deeply sleeping they are usually correctly diagnosed as being in a coma. However for Mr. Houben he was never actually in a coma but was simply paralyzed although his mind was still functioning.
How can something like this be possible in this day and age? Or even 23 years ago… It’s hard to believe but it happens. At the time of his accident the doctors performed all of the tests they utilize to detect brain function and all of Rom’s tests came back that his brain was not responding.
Rom Houben, now 46, states: “I screamed, but there was nothing to hear.” Rom shared with the world his past years as a man lost and frustrated and unable to stop the horror that was his life day in and day out. Thanks to modern technology Rom is able to use a computer to communicate now and he has a lot to say.
Of course when the accident first happened the doctors used a battery of test available at the time to determine if Rom was still aware on any level. Normally those test were very accurate even back then. There are a series of tests that can be run and doctors did them all before concluding that his brain function was gone.
Flash forward 23 years and just imagine the leaps and bounds technology has made in recent times. Now the doctors have so many more high tech outlets to use to determine just about anything. The doctors performed these new tests on Rom and lo and behold, they discovered that not only did Rom have brain function he was awake and completely aware of his surroundings.
Unfortunately, Rom will spend the rest of his life in the hospital but at least now he can communicate and even read books using a special device above his bed. This is an amazing story of a will to survive and an even stronger will to live.
November 23rd, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Hummmm, let’s see, doesn’t GERMANY have socialized medicine?
November 23rd, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Mary, that is completely asinine. The type of healthcare you have does NOT correlate to the treatment you get. To disprove your ridiculous claim even more, he was brought to the US on 5 separate occasions and even those could not counter the diagnosis. Think before you speak. It helps.
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:30 pm
Actually, Jerkface, Mary is being quite pertinent. Mr. Houben was kept alive for 23 years because the hated system of SOCIALIZED MEDICINE respected Mr. Houben’s mother’s wish that the state continue keeping him alive. And this was done AT TAXPAYERS’ COST. Very, very few families in the United States have the resources to keep a family member in hospital care for 23 years. Are you willing to contribute to help keep a total stranger in care for 23 years?
Of course the type of health insurance system affects the kind of treatment you get. If Mr. Houben was under private insurance here in the U.S. his coverage would have run out years ago and he would not have had 23 plus years of care.
So here is proof that contrary to lies about government coming between doctor and patient, and death panels that determine who lives or dies, a national health insurance system is actually more humane, and more responsive to the patients’ and patients’ families’ wishes.
November 25th, 2009 at 5:46 am
This whole story is based on his communicating via “facilitated communication” — a system discredited in 1994 when it was shown that in ALL tested cases it was the facilitator talking, not the patient.
I only hope he can’t understand what’s going on if that’s the case, because watching someone else put words in your mouth would be worse than anything.