Man in 'coma' for 23 years was awake all along

[Slimebeast]

highwaystar101 said:

Slimebeast said:
What I personally find strange is how the man can hold his head up, which indicates he has voluntary control of some of his muscles in the neck. He doesn't seem like a person in a vegetative state to me (and typically people with locked-in-syndrome don't do that with their heads either).

I don't know what his condition is, but this story and the footage don't make sense.

Well, you're the doctor so you instantly know more about his condition than me, so your opinion is more important. But I assumed that he can hold his head up because of his rehabilitation over the past three years, or doesn't it work that way?

Could be, but it's very rare that locked-in persons regain any muscle control. Rehab can train them to be able to communicate with eye movements that are already present despite the injury (eye muscles are usually the only muscle control preserved).

I've seen a couple of guys with locked-in-syndrome and they were completely paralyzed xcept for the eyes and I was told they would remain like that until they perished.