Posted on 08/04/2005 5:49:22 PM PDT by rwfromkansas
For 20 years, Sarah Scantlin was seemingly unaware of the world around her after she was hit by a drunk driver in an accident that sent her into a comatose state in September of 1984.
Then in February, she shocked her parents and doctors when she began to speak. In her first national television interview, after undergoing surgery on her long-unused limbs and speech therapy to unlock her long-dormant tongue, Scantlin speaks with The Early Show national correspondent Tracy Smith in a two-part interview to be broadcast Thursday and Friday.
Smith also speaks with Sarah's parents, Jim and Betsy Scantlin, who never imagined they would talk to their daughter again.
In a February interview on The Early Show , Sarah’s father recounted the phone call he and his wife got, informing them of the unimaginable.
"It was amazing. I'm in the living room. Betsy was in the computer area, and the phone rings ... and suddenly, I'm aware that there's a profound, distinct difference. Rather than speaking about Sarah, it became very clear she [Sarah’s nurse] was speaking to Sarah. It was the most amazing feeling in the world," he said.
The 1984 accident occurred when Scantlin was crossing the street in her hometown of Hutchinson, Kan. She suffered a massive brain injury and could not breathe on her own. Smith speaks with New York neurologist Randolph Marshall, who says that people like Scantlin rarely awake from such an injury. "You only hear about these cases very rarely and they’re always a surprise when they actually come to light," he says.
Scantlin’s speech is still limited.
However, it seems that throughout her 20-year coma, she could see, hear, and understand what was going on around her. Shortly after she awoke, her father asked what she knew about events that had occurred years earlier.
"Sarah, what's 9/11?" her father asks. She responds, "Bad…fire…airplanes…building…hurt people."
Smith says there are other things deep in Scantlin’s brain that also survived the accident, such things as her favorite 1980s song "Summer Lovin’," which she even sings for The Early Show.
bump
So... a lady who was in a coma for 20 years has better mental reception than the average leftist.
Absolutely amazing. What a wonderful story. Shows how little we really know about coma patients. I'll bet, when asked, she will be glad to respond that she is pleased no one decided to end her 'misery' for her, especially by slowly starving her to death.
amen
true
"So... a lady who was in a coma for 20 years has better mental reception than the average leftist."
No NPR.
It's so much better to err on the side of life. She might not ever be 'completely normal'. But she will hopefully have continued improvement going forward!
8mmMauser--I don't know the whole ping list, but thought you might want to pass this on!
Important post ping
. <- (That's a tear, not a bookmark.)
Let this be a lesson to those who would starve, pull the plug, inject too much morphine etc. to rid themselves of those considered worthless eaters. This woman is so fortunate she wasn't the victim of the courts.
This is wonderful news that won't go anywhere in the media.
Ooh, good hit.
Thank goodness she's lived to tell of her ordeal. Remember this case, and insist on humane treatment for patients even when the medicos say "They're a slab of meat."
I bet they don't ask her her opinion on Terry Schiavo....
Months later, afeter my dad recovered, the doc's name came up in conversation. Dad said, "Oh, yeah. He's the one who wanted to kill me"...
So much for coma patients being unaware.
The left says it is a "quality of life" issue. That they are imprisoned in their heads.
Never hear the left urging the death penalty as being compasionate over keeping someone locked up in prison for multiple life sentences.
bttt
Indeed...that's the sort of thing that needs to be cut/pasted/sent-to-all-in-address books.
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