"My Second Birth"-Man Misdiagnosed as Being in Coma for 23 Years!

In a post on a similar story to the following, I said: "Doctors are wrong all the time, you never know what will happen in the future - whether it's a miracle or a medical advance - that could bring your loved one back to you..." Well, here's a coma case where the doctors were wrong and it was only with medical advances that a man was "reborn:"

Patient trapped in a 23-year 'coma' was conscious all along

Doctors used a range of coma tests, recognised worldwide, 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 describes the moment as 'my second birth'.

Therapy has since allowed him to tap out messages on a computer screen. ...

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. ...

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. ...

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who have lain in persistent vegetative states for years should be given the opportunity to have crucial medical support withdrawn because of the 'indignity' of their condition.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. ...

Terri Schiavo was judged to be in a "persistent vegetative state" before she was starved to death. Who knows if the diagnosis was correct, if she could have recovered through therapy, or if new advances in science could have helped her? Cases like this reinforce my opposition to euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide - always err on the side of life and pray for a miracle, because they do happen.

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Back from the dead

This is an inspiring story about a man who came out of a coma after doctors advised his family to pull the plug. It pretty much epitomizes why I am pro-life on euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide and why I supported the fight of Terri Schiavo's family to keep her alive.

Doctors are wrong all the time, you never know what will happen in the future - whether it's a miracle or a medical advance - that could bring your loved one back to you. Why NOT err on the side of life? What do you have to lose? You'll never regret giving them a longer chance to recover, but you may regret pulling the plug too early.

'I'm glad I can do anything'

Monk suffered a traumatic closed brain injury when he was T-boned eight years ago in a midsize car by a large pickup truck.

...Monk went into a coma upon impact and had no measurable brain function for 18 days. He spent three months in a coma.

"Some of the doctors told Mom and Dad to just pull the plug," Monk said.

"We heard that for months," Monk's mom, Janice Monk, added. "From every place we went, they told us he'd never be anything but a vegetable."

Hearing this makes Monk mad.

"Doctors are there to heal," he said, "not to give up."

But Monk never gave up on himself. He did wake up, and he's no vegetable.

...But Monk cherishes these days more than most because he knows how fragile life can be. He also knows that he has a purpose for being here -- because God told him so.

..."He said, 'My son, I'm not ready for you yet. You still have many things to do for us down there, and when it's your day, I'll bring you back home, but not yet,"' Monk said.

This is Monk's daily reminder that no matter his circumstances, he has to help people.

And Monk takes God's words to heart.