Man in coma for over 20 years alert the entire time

2009-11-24 03:04:13 (GMT) (WiredPRNews.com - Medical News, News)

Wired PR News reports a Belgium man believed to have been in a coma for 23 years was reportedly alert the entire time.

A Belgium man believed to have been in a coma for 23 years was reportedly conscious the whole time.

Belgium (WiredPRNews.com) – A Belgium man who was believed to have been in a coma for 23 years was reportedly alert the entire time. As reported by the Associated Press (AP), Rom Houben, who became paralyzed after a car crash, was said by medical experts to have been in a vegetative state for over two decades before specialized tools allowed him to communicate again.

Houben, who now uses a special brain scan device for communication, is quoted by the AP as stating of being unable to communicate for 23 years, “Powerlessness. Utter powerlessness. At first I was angry, then I learned to live with it.”

Researchers of a study led by Steven Laureys of Belgium’s Coma Science Group are quoted in the report as stating of the incidence of wrong diagnoses in coma patients, “Despite the importance of diagnostic accuracy, the rate of misdiagnosis of vegetative state has not substantially changed in the past 15 years.”

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