You mean in his case. Tetrodotoxin poisoning. As long as he gets oxygen, he'll live, but he's still paralyzed--until the body can metabolize it.

There are photos of him in his past condition over the years on the web, so I actually believe this incredible story. Could others in a catatonic state be in the same state of awareness? That’s right out of a Vincent Price horror movie. Makes one reevaluate the life support disconnect scenario but I’m not sure pro or con.

I'm thinking of poorly prepared fugu.

I'd say rare is an understatement. I would surmise that all others with the ailment simply died of neglect thus largely removing the illness from the gene pool. I hope his descendants don't pick it up.

This reminds me of something...not meaning to hijack this thread. This is an incredible story. I'm glad it was shared here.

When I was 18 I was rushed into a hospital from my college dorm because my appendix had burst. A little after midnight I was rolled into the surgery room. Only, the anesthesiologist didn’t put me to sleep. He just paralyzed me. As they intibated me I realized that they thought I was unconscious, but I was wide awake. It was a horrifying experience. I don’t remember the operation, but they said that as they closed me up (this was before the days of scoping for this) my hands came up and started pulling the tube out of my throat (no memory of that, either). I spent some time in ICU as my breathing would occasionally stop. To be aware in a useless body is beyond words…

I would think of it as karma and the perfect way to introduce detainees to Western civilization.

Agreed. By the time both my kids grew out of Barney I wanted to shoot him with a buffalo gun. :)

I was just thinking of Terri Schindler Schiavo.

I am convinced she was murdered.

THAT is akin to torture... I don't even think we'd be so heartless to subject the prisoners at Gitmo to that...

(Then again... Tell us the truth, or the evil purple one will come back...)

The one thing I absolutely believe is how much he hates Barney.

damn, that would be harsh. Thought you knew me better. :)

I hope you're talking about Evan and not Pistorius....

I know, his tone of voice is so obnoxious I had to kick his ass once. Overall though, now that he's quieter he's tolerable.

Okay..so 'coma' wasn't the word, they used 'vegetative state'... which implied feeding tube and ventilator ( to me anyway)... Very odd still, but not typical vegetative state experiences as far as I know...

Bull. More to it that what they're saying in the write-up.

I didn't say I didn't believe him...I said I had a hard time believe the story as it was written... the word coma...coming out of a 12 year coma...it wasn't a 'coma'. Read the comment I just left with the link.
I can't believe you're friends with Evan...he's such a pain in the ass that one...but birds of a feather and all that.

Okay...I listened to this audio and it's an amazing story, but I don't think this was in a 'coma' situation. I don't think he was on a feeding tube or ventilator. He had some unexplainable brain virus that they couldn't accurately diagnose and left his body useless after some time and then he was unable to respond and there's a couple of years he doesn't remember at all. After listening to this I don't think it defies reason...it's just extremely rare. How many people in this situation would get the care that he got? That alone is a big factor I think. He had a will...and you know what they say about will.
The audio is worth listening too.... :)
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/01/...

Evan is a good friend...j/k, typo

Agreed after 12 years even with his day long daily therapy he would still have a degree of muscle atrophy.

EvEn so, if he can recount things accurately that he should have been oblivious to AND he's right there telling you so (can touch him, question him) there is no reason not to believe him. Stranger things have happened...

After 12 years of idleness he wouldn't have his physical faculties. Atrophy and all that stuff. TWELVE YEARS! And who's Evan?

That's because it defies reason. Evan so...

I have a really hard time believing this.