Zolder, Belgium – A car crash victim has spoken of the horror he endured for 23 years after he was misdiagnosed as being in a coma when he was conscious the whole time.
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Rom Houben, trapped in his paralysed body after a car crash, described his real-life nightmare as he screamed to doctors that he could hear them – but could make no sound.
‘I screamed, but there was nothing to hear,’ said Mr Houben, now 46, who doctors thought was in a persistent vegatative state.
‘I dreamed myself away,’ he added, tapping his tale out with the aid of a computer.
Doctors used a range of coma tests before reluctantly concluding that his consciousness was ‘extinct’.
But three years ago, new hi-tech scans showed his brain was still functioning almost completely normally.
Mr Houben described the moment as ‘my second birth’. Therapy has since allowed him to tap out messages on a computer screen.
Mr Houben said: ‘All that time I just literally dreamed of a better life. Frustration is too small a word to describe what I felt.’
His case has only just been revealed in a scientific paper released by the man who ‘saved’ him, top neurological expert Dr Steven Laureys.
‘Medical advances caught up with him,’ said Dr Laureys, who believes there may be many similar cases of false comas around the world.
The disclosure will also renew the right-to-die debate over whether people in comas are truly unconscious.
Mr Houben, a former martial arts enthusiast, was paralysed in 1983.
Doctors in Zolder, Belgium, used the internationally accepted Glasgow Coma Scale to assess his eye, verbal and motor responses. But each time he was graded incorrectly.
Only a re-evaluation of his case at the University of Liege discovered that he had lost control of his body but was still fully aware of what was happening.
He is never likely to leave hospital, but as well as his computer he now has a special device above his bed which lets him read books while lying down.
Mr Houben said: ‘I shall never forget the day when they discovered what was truly wrong with me – it was my second birth.
‘I want to read, talk with my friends via the computer and enjoy my life now that people know I am not dead.’
Dr Laureys’s new study claims that patients classed as in a vegetative state are often misdiagnosed.
‘Anyone who bears the stamp of “unconscious” just one time hardly ever gets rid of it again,’ he said.
The doctor, who leads the Coma Science Group and Department of Neurology at Liege University Hospital, found Mr Houben’s brain was still working by using state-of-the-art imaging.
He plans to use the case to highlight what he considers may be similar examples around the world.
Dr Laureys said: ‘In Germany alone each year some 100,000 people suffer from severe traumatic brain injury.
‘About 20,000 are followed by a coma of three weeks or longer. Some of them die, others regain health.
‘But an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 people a year remain trapped in an intermediate stage – they go on living without ever coming back again.’
Supporters of euthanasia and assisted suicide argue that people who have lain in persistent vegetative states for years should be given the opportunity to have crucial medical support withdrawn because of the ‘indignity’ of their condition.
But there have been several cases in which people judged to be in vegetative states or deep comas have recovered.
Twenty years ago, Carrie Coons, an 86-year-old from New York, regained consciousness after a year, took small amounts of food by mouth and engaged in conversation.
Only days before her recovery, a judge had granted her family’s request for the removal of the feeding tube which had been keeping her alive.
In the UK in 1993, doctors switched off the life support system keeping alive Tony Bland, a 22-year- old who had been in a coma for three years following the Hillsborough disaster.
Dr Laureys was not available for comment yesterday and it is not clear why he thought Mr Houben should have the hi-tech screening when so many years had passed.
I will not even try to comprehend the pain and frustration.
This proves the halachic view, many would say brain dead etc. but…
How frightening, to be aware of what is going on and people think you are in a coma! The thought of hearing a doctor say “OK. lets pull out the plug” or stop feeding him” must be horrific
Sometimes a brain-dead person isn’t even brain-dead at all!
wow poor man. fascinating.
we thank Hashem for giving us the ability to advance in tecnology and help those in need. a sign of Moshiachs immenent arrival
Shreklach. Shreklach. What a living hell that is…….Gevalt………..
oh wow, think about being unable to communicate for 23 years! The Frustration, the Gehinom. All the while knowing that you are awake! we have to make sure that Brain deaths are not accepted to pull the plug! its murder.
Sometimes a Neshoma is down here in a body even in a vegetative state JUST so that for those few seconds or years the Guf can get a kaparah, and by pulling the plug, you think like a Dr but not as a yid, and C”V the person suffers in the next world and not this one!
He was never diagnosed as brain dead.
This is only incidentally connected to the issue of “brain death”. This person was never diagnosed as “brain dead”; he was diagnosed as being in a “persistent vegetative state”, just like Terry Schiavo HYD, who was murdered in cold blood five years ago, at the orders of a Florida court.
The only connection to the “brain death” issue is that it shows how prevailing medical consensus may be wrong. And if it was wrong here, then it may also be wrong about “brain death”. But then again, it may not be; this doesn’t prove it either way.
odd story.
would love to see the neurologist report.
how does he “tap out messages on a computer”? did they never notice he coudl “tap” before?? (sounds different than ‘typing’)
does he have no movement of his eyes? what condition woudl give paralysis to all cranial nerves too? what nerves work and which do not.
it says he can read now. does this mean he can follow with his eyes? sounds very interesting.
Death of a Person: The central question in this debate is ‘When is a person dead?’ Is a person dead when the soul leaves the body, when the body disintegrates, when the heart stops beating, when respiration irreversibly ends? An organism — that is, a human being — can be dead, but the organism’s heart, kidneys, liver and other organs can remain alive for some time. At what point would you consider the organism ‘dead?’
Death of an Organ: An organ can cease to function, but it’s cells can remain alive and slowly die at some point later in time. At what point would you consider an organ to be ‘dead?’
Brain Death: The brain mainly consists of the cortex (the larger part of the brain) and the brain-stem. Brain death is sometimes used too broadly. A person is brain dead when the cortex and the brain-stem cease to function.
Brain-Stem Death: This occurs when the brain-stem is dead, and by implication, the cortex as well. According to the laws of the United States and Israel, organs are only recovered from people who are deceased as defined by brain-stem death. This means that their brain no longer functions, that they are unconscious and inanimate.
The brain-stem controls respiration, and therefore the supply of oxygen to the body. Without oxygen, the heart can continue to beat only with the aid of a mechanical respirator that pumps blood throughout the body. The blood carries oxygen, essential to keep individual organs ‘alive’ even though the brain-stem is dead. (Inevitably, even with the use of a ventilator, the heart will shut down.) Brain-stem death (BSD) is examined in more detail below, from a medical, halachic and legal standpoint.
Coma, Deep Coma, Persistent Vegetative State (PVS): These terms imply the cortex is not functioning even if the brain-stem is, and the patient might be able to breathe on his or her own. Deep coma and PVS typically mean that this condition is irreversible. People often confuse PVS with brain-stem death, but they are not the same. Organs are never recovered from patients who are in coma or PVS.
Clinical Death: A term typically used to describe someone whose heart has stopped beating but who can be resuscitated. We sometimes hear stories of people who were ‘clinically’ dead but were revived.
Part 1, from http://www.hods.org
The Debate
The Rabbis of the Talmud contemplate a situation where a person is buried by a collapsed building on the Sabbath. Typically one is not allowed to dig on the Sabbath but of course, if life is at risk, not only is one allowed to dig, one is obligated to do so. If the person is found unconscious, lying inanimate, one must determine if he is dead or alive. If alive, continue digging to free him. If dead, leave him be and stop digging and recover the body only after the Sabbath. There is a debate as to whether or not a beating heart or respiration is a sign of life. The Talmud seems to say that lack of breathing in an unconscious inanimate person is death. The Shulchan Aruch, the book of Jewish Law, and Maimonides rule that way as well. But, there are those Rabbis that interpret the Talmud differently, and insist that a beating heart is clearly an indication of life.
Part 2:
Beating
There are those Rabbinic authorities who claim that only when a person’s heart has irreversibly stopped beating is he or she dead. From a medical viewpoint, this makes it difficult to transplant organs because once the heart stops pumping oxygenated blood to other organs, they begin to deteriorate and die. These organs are typically no longer viable for transplant.
What most people don’t know, however, is that in certain situations it is possible for a donor whose heart has stopped beating to donate their kidneys or liver for up to 40 minutes after cessation of heart beat. (Kidneys and liver are more resilient to oxygen deprivation then other organs.) The ramifications are enormous because of the 80,000 Americans waiting for organs, 50,000 are waiting for kidneys.
Some Rabbis who believe that a person is still alive as long as the heart is beating are Rav Shlomo Elyashiv; Rabbi Elazar Shach, Rabbi J.D. Bleich, Rabbi Mordechai Willig, Rabbi Herschel Schachter, Rabbi Dr. Avraham Avraham (author of Nishmat Avraham), Rabbi Aharon Soloveitchik, Rabbi Eliezer Waldenburg (author of Tziz Eliezer), Rabbi Yitzchok Wiess, Rabbi Nissan Karelitz, Rabbi Shmuel Wozner, Rabbi Yitzchak Kolitz, Rabbi Nosen Gestetner, Rabbi Aharon Kahn, and Rabbi Mayer Scheinberg.
According to Rabbi J.D. Bliech and Rabbi Herschel Schachter, even a decapitated body that had the arteries and viens sewn together at the neck, whose heart is still beating, is alive.
Part 3
Breathing
There are two methods to determine if cessation of breathing is irreversible. If after attempting CPR and all other life saving measures, breathing is not observed for a period of time it is considered irreversible. In addition, modern medicine has established that the brain-stem controls respiration, and if the brain-stem is not functioning and it dies, a person can never breathe again on his or her own. [People can wake up from a coma because comatose people have a functioning brain stem and are breathing on their own. Never in the history of modern medicine has there ever been a case of a brain-stem dead person ‘waking up.’ ]
Part 4
Some of the Rabbis who believe that irreversible cessation of autonomous respiration is death, even though there is a beating heart are: Rabbi Moshe Feinstein; Rabbi Dovid Feinstein; Rabbi Moshe Tendler; Rabbi Gedaliah Scwhartz, Av Bet Din of the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) and Rabbi Yosef Dov Soleveitchik, Rabbi Dr. Avraham Steinberg; Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach [some doubt that this was the position of Rav Auerbach, but Rabbi Avraham Steinberg testifies that he personally heard this position from Rav Auerbach after the sheep experiment, and transcribed his psak for him]; Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, Chief Rabbi of Bet El; Rabbi Shaul Israeli, former member dayan of the Supreme Rabbinical Court of Jerusalem; former Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Israel Rav Moredechai Eliyahu; former Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Israel Avraham Schapiro; Rabbi Yaacov Yosef, son of the former Chief Sephardic Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef; Rav Zalman Nechemia Goldberg; and the complete halachic committee of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel in 1986
Being up and about won’t change the fact that he’s a retard.
One part of the story that you, conveniently forgot to mention:
The man’s Mother brought him to America 5 times for this… Not Canada or anywhere else but America because we have the world’s best health care (No thanks to the Dems and B. Hussein Obama). An American designed the computer that he is now using to write his book
Please do not accept the assertions made here by Shimon or any others. For example, it is crystal clear that Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, ztl, in one of his last communications (in writing), rejected ‘brain death’ as death in terms of Jewish law (halacha). Similarly, Rav Aaron Soloveitchik ztl and others have testified that the Rav, ie Rav Y. B. Soloveitchik ztl, did NOT accept ‘brain death.’
Anyone can contact Rav Zalman Nechemiah Goldberg shlita and learn that his view is being misrepresented in the post above.
The great majority of halachic authorities reject the notion that ‘brain death’ suffices to declare someone dead, al pi halacha.
It should be noted that at least 10% of patients declared ‘brain dead’ have parts of their brain still functioning–a fact not provided to Rav Moshe Feinstein, ztl, who states in his teshuva that he was told that the whole brain is liquefied in a person declared ‘brain dead’ (which is obviously not true).
Also, a significant minority of patients labelled ‘brain dead’ have a functional hypothalamus (a part of the brain).
None of this has anything to do with this case, which concerns a patient who apparently had ‘locked-in’ syndrome
Though much that was written above is true, and much is inaccurate, there is one point which needs to be considered:
Medical “certainty” of yesterday, is the “Can you believe they actually thought that?” of today.
So will “medical certainty” of today, be a source of laughter tomorrow!
I will not debate regarding whether is it possible for a person with BRAIN STEM DEATH to recover. The VAST majority believe it is impossible.
However, I will emphatically state, that there are NUMEROUS cases of people being MISTAKENLY DIAGNOSED AS BRAIN STEM DEATH.
I know we love to say, “That is a clear diagnosis.”
We had a case during the last 12 months, where the person was actually in the somewhat similar state to the man in this story, and was a carrier of an organ donor card. He was kept alive for a while, and diagnosed as brain dead but not brain stem death. Finally, the doctors came to the conclusion that he did have total BRAIN STEM DEATH, and stood around discussing harvesting his organs.
At this point, he opened his eyes and spoke, “I am not dead.”
The “guess” is he was semi-conscious the entire time but was “recovering” from trauma by total BRAIN-RESTING state.?