FARK.com: (2151934) Man left barely alive after car wreck 20 years ago suddenly starts to speak and walk again after his brain spontaneously rewires itself

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		Man left barely alive after car wreck 20 years ago suddenly starts to speak and walk again after his brain spontaneously rewires itself (abcnews.go.com)		208
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Snowflake Tubbybottom		2006-07-03 05:42:03 PM

No, he clearly said "to blave"

/only mostly dead

madefromcheese		2006-07-03 05:52:09 PM

His brain probably did not spontaneously rewire itself, but did it slowly over time. Just because the effects seemed spontaneous doesn't mean the rewiring was.

TheRealist		2006-07-03 05:52:58 PM

he'll be posting on fark in no time..

funmonkey1		2006-07-03 05:59:13 PM

Wow, that is some crazy shiat.

I can't help but think what has happened to him is a bit like being in a time machine. 20 years gone by. Wow.

Summerhouse		2006-07-03 06:05:09 PM

I need someone to feed me, walk me, bathe me and dress me but I can count to 25 uninterrupted? Woo-H00! Call me glad to be alive. Not.

the_gospel_of_thomas		2006-07-03 06:11:24 PM

Doctors Have Proof That Man's Brain Rewired Itself After Car Crash Severed Nerve Connections
"Wallis' sudden recovery happened three years ago, but doctors said the same cannot be hoped for people in a persistent vegetative state, such as Terry Schiavo,"

And while that may be true, if you asked one of the doctors 4 years ago what this man's chances were, they would have made a similar comment about him...

Sir Cumference the Flatulent		2006-07-03 06:24:21 PM

TheRealist: he'll be posting on fark in no time..

...most likely in political flamewar threads.

jarrett		2006-07-03 06:30:12 PM

the_gospel_of_thomas: And while that may be true, if you asked one of the doctors 4 years ago what this man's chances were, they would have made a similar comment about him...

Do you have a cite for that? Because I could link to an ABC News article that explains in detail how his condition was notably different from Schaivo's.

lordargent		2006-07-03 07:05:05 PM

madefromcheese: His brain probably did not spontaneously rewire itself, but did it slowly over time

Came in here to say that.

Spontaneous recoveries/failures, are hardly spontaneous.

Watchman		2006-07-03 07:19:57 PM

jarrett: Because I could link to an ABC News article that explains in detail how his condition was notably different from Schaivo's.

So he was expected to recover? The odds were favorable?

playblu		2006-07-03 08:06:48 PM

This guy's story is on TLC about every five hours - watch it and see what he looks like now:

1. Talks like he has a BAC of about .30 and a wriggling hamster for a tongue - had to be captioned so you could understand him

2. Explicitly hits on his daughter, because she's cute, always there, and about 20 years old, like he thinks he is

3. Has no concept that he can't do things like walk or drive, insists (profanely) that he is able to, and just did, said things

4. Has no ability to generate new memories - has to be told every day that it's not the 80's, the cute chick in the room is his daughter, who isn't a baby, etc.

Yeah, not real great way to live, but beats the alternative.

the_gospel_of_thomas		2006-07-03 09:33:21 PM

madefromcheese: His brain probably did not spontaneously rewire itself, but did it slowly over time.

Happening or arising without apparent external cause; self-generated.

Arising from a natural inclination or impulse and not from external incitement or constraint.

Maybe you were thinking "instantaneously" ?

..

jarrett: Do you have a cite for that?

I didn't say that his and her condition was EXACT. I said, "if you asked one of the doctors 4 years ago what this man's chances were, they would have made a similar comment"

... similar comment ... there is NO HOPE. He is a vegtable, with "no hope" of recovery.

/remove the feeding tube and let him die.

"Terry Wallis, 42, is thought to be the only person in the United States to recover so dramatically so long after a severe brain injury.

"I wouldn't want to overenthuse family members or folks who think now we have a cure for this."

Wallis was 19 when he suffered a traumatic brain injury that left him briefly in a coma and then in a minimally conscious state, in which he was awake but uncommunicative other than occasional nods and grunts, for more than 19 years.

lordargent		2006-07-03 10:01:49 PM

playblu: Yeah, not real great way to live, but beats the alternative.

Give me cognizance or give me death.

the_gospel_of_thomas		2006-07-03 10:04:20 PM

Also. I'd like to see scientists spend more time and research to discover the triggers for the body and mind's own way of self-regeneration, ( as evidenced with this story of spontaneously, self-originated regeneration ) ... and spend less time and money on different ways to inject the brain with stem cells from pigs, or cloned aborted fetuses, as a way of curing the body from traumatic illness and trauma.

/From TFA: "for example, nerves in the arms and legs can grow about an inch a month after they are severed or damaged. - - The new research suggests that instead of the sudden recovery Wallis seemed to make when he began speaking and moving three years ago, he actually may have been slowly recovering all along, as nerves in his brain formed new connections at a glacial pace until enough were present to make a network.

AntiNorm		2006-07-03 10:21:46 PM

CraicBaby		2006-07-03 10:35:34 PM

tgot, this is from TFA:

"The nerve fibers from the cells were severed, but the cells themselves remained intact," unlike Schiavo, whose brain cells had died, said Dr. James Bernat, a neurologist at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire, who reviewed the research.

Flamewar over.

the_gospel_of_thomas		2006-07-03 10:37:34 PM

CraicBaby: tgot, this is from TFA:

the_gospel_of_thomas: I didn't say that his and her condition was EXACT. ( 2006-07-03 09:33:21 PM )

CraicBaby		2006-07-03 10:41:04 PM

the_gospel_of_thomas: the_gospel_of_thomas: I didn't say that his and her condition was EXACT. ( 2006-07-03 09:33:21 PM )

Then why were you getting in a tizzy? Yeah, the dr. may have made the same comments about this guy 4 yrs ago, but the point is moot because his condition is not the same as Terri Schiavo's was.

the_gospel_of_thomas		2006-07-03 10:41:23 PM

From page three:

""Most neurologists would have been willing to bet money that whatever the cause of it, if it hadn't changed in 19 years, wasn't going to change now," Bernat said. "So it's really extraordinary."

Flamewar over. Oh, wait - when did it start?

the_gospel_of_thomas		2006-07-03 10:46:54 PM

The point is not moot, because most would have believed that "if it hadn't changed in 19 years ( as far as they could observe ) then it wasn't going to change."

"Researchers used a new type of brain imaging only available in research settings not ordinary hospitals or rehabilitation centers to establish the regrowth. It tracks the direction of water molecules in and around brain cells, an indicator of brain activity.

The other minimally conscious patient a 24-year-old man who suffered a severe brain injury in a car accident when he was 18 also had evidence of changes in nerve connections, but they were not organized in a way that made a difference in his ability to function. "We'll have to understand more about why recovery occurred" in Wallis' case, Zafonte said. "The question is 'why?' It's not just 'wait.'"

Wouldn't you like them to discover why? I would.

CraicBaby		2006-07-03 10:48:32 PM

the_gospel_of_thomas: Flamewar over. Oh, wait - when did it start?

Sounded like you were trying to start one with your inital Terri Schiavo comment.

the_gospel_of_thomas		2006-07-03 10:50:55 PM

Dude. It's mentioned in page one of TFA, third paragraph.

You might want to ask AntiNorm what compelled him to post the image, and how that contributed to the discussion.

CraicBaby		2006-07-03 10:59:31 PM

the_gospel_of_thomas: Wouldn't you like them to discover why? I would.

Yes, I would. It would be interesting to find out why this guy recovered some of his nerve connections and other people don't.

CraicBaby		2006-07-03 11:00:30 PM

the_gospel_of_thomas: You might want to ask AntiNorm what compelled him to post the image, and how that contributed to the discussion.

Yeah, really, what was the point of that?

Abagadro		2006-07-03 11:18:02 PM

if you asked one of the doctors 4 years ago what this man's chances were, they would have made a similar comment

This comment is both a huge assumption and also extremely vague. "What do you mean by chances" is likely the only answer you would have gotten from the question you propose. The only reason Shiavo is mentioned in TFA is to distinguish this case from that one, so why are you trying to draw a parallel by making the above assumption?

the_gospel_of_thomas		2006-07-03 11:28:27 PM

Abagadro: This comment is both a huge assumption and also extremely vague.

the_gospel_of_thomas: "Most neurologists would have been willing to bet money that whatever the cause of it, if it hadn't changed in 19 years, wasn't going to change now," Bernat said. "So it's really extraordinary." ( 2006-07-03 10:41:23 PM )

"so why are you trying to draw a parallel?"

Because many people, scientists included, think that they have ALL the answers, until it is later found out that they do not. When you dare to question them, you get beaten down by their supporters who share the same view, or do so for other reasons.

Abagadro		2006-07-03 11:44:05 PM

Well now you are moving the goalposts. If the issue is whether science is 100% percent certain (i.e. has ALL the answers) no one with any integrity will state as much. However, an extremely rare/unique event does not justify throwing all of that science out and declaring it invalid.

Plus, "willing to bet money on it not happening" is not the same thing as ruling something out altogether. Partially rewiring the brain of a severely impaired man is nowhere near the same thing as growing a new one so the comparison is still not salient.

DisneyOnIce		2006-07-04 12:07:04 AM

the_gospel_of_thomas: Because many people, scientists included, think that they have ALL the answers, until it is later found out that they do not.

When you dare to question them, you get beaten down by their supporters who share the same view, or do so for other reasons.

People who live in glass houses, etc. etc...

Darth Jackass		2006-07-04 01:10:53 AM

Wallis has complete amnesia about the two decades he spent barely conscious, but remembers his life before the injury. "He still thinks Ronald Reagan is president," his father, Jerry, said in a statement, adding that until recently his son insisted he was 20 years old.

Imagine being this guy. You're a retard sent back to the 80's, only you're unable to move forward in time and remain in the same period for the rest of your life. Ronnie's president, we're still at war with the USSR and fear total annihilation at any moment, and Madonna's the most popular woman in the world. I'd farking wish for death.

clayndwoods		2006-07-04 01:11:04 AM

I have on my tin foil hat. Dammit. And I have a fresh margarita.

No words more true have been spoken Disney, all joking aside.

LocalCynic		2006-07-04 01:13:00 AM

the_gospel_of_thomas: Because many people, scientists included, think that they have ALL the answers, until it is later found out that they do not. When you dare to question them, you get beaten down by their supporters who share the same view, or do so for other reasons.

i3.photobucket.com

I WANT TO BELIEVE

crypt0z0ic		2006-07-04 01:13:02 AM

Does this mean that I might eventually "rewire" the millions of brain cells that I farked up as a teenager?

Qermaq		2006-07-04 01:13:19 AM

playblu:

Yeah, not real great way to live, but beats the alternative.

Prove it.

clayndwoods		2006-07-04 01:13:25 AM

If Reagan were president, we wouldn't be at war in Iraq right now. And Sadam would be past tense. He was a much smarter man.

Donutmaker		2006-07-04 01:17:04 AM

No man's life is worth 30 years of health care bills. Even if he can recognizably be revived thirty years later, what use would he be? Euthenasia should have been put into play for everyone's sake.

Syder		2006-07-04 01:17:56 AM

natewill		2006-07-04 01:18:20 AM

Reminds me of the headline after my last birthday party:

Man left barely alive after empty tequila bottle 20 hours ago suddenly starts to speak and walk again after his stomach spontaneously empties itself

MWeather		2006-07-04 01:27:49 AM

the_gospel_of_thomas: And while that may be true, if you asked one of the doctors 4 years ago what this man's chances were, they would have made a similar comment about him...

His brain cells are alive, hers were dead. Big difference.

I_Make_Jebus_Cry		2006-07-04 01:29:57 AM

the_gospel_of_thomas

Not hardly. The guy was actually semi-concious.

That Shaivo (sp) chick had no higher brain functions because her cortex was completely destroyed.

I_Make_Jebus_Cry		2006-07-04 01:32:09 AM

clayndwoods

Nice try with the threadjack attempt.

Get back on the subject matter at hand, mouth-breather.

locater16		2006-07-04 01:34:06 AM

Hooray ignorance! Esoecially you Gospel! I'm sure that being a mentally retarded person with about as much self reliance as a 90 year old with alzheimers is far prefferable to being you know, healthy.

I bet you didn't know that hundreds of fertilized embryos are being destroyed every day at fertility clinics, because if you did and you don't oppose that, then your completley mental.

I'm not sure how Terry Shciavo came up in this thread so quickly, but her farking husband said that Schiavo wouldn't have wanted to be on life support, isn't that good enough? Or do you need god himself to come down and explain to you that everyone dies eventualy, so there is a time and place to just let it go.

ever1261		2006-07-04 01:35:22 AM

It's not the same. Schiavo is as dead as this horse you idiots keep beating.

DogsInBathtub		2006-07-04 01:36:06 AM

funmonkey1: what has happened to him is a bit like being in a time machine.

Pulling from a post a week ago:
hauntr888: I've got one. It's in my bedroom closet. You'll need to wear these biker shorts first though.

Also, Snowflake Tubbybottom great reference, too.

Firebug1047		2006-07-04 01:36:11 AM

Now all he needs to do is stop Greg Stilson

/Didn't rtfa

Tourney3p0		2006-07-04 01:37:10 AM

2006-07-03 07:19:57 PM Watchman [TotalFark]

So he was expected to recover? The odds were favorable?

There's a difference between "unlikely" and "100%, no doubt about it, persistent vegitative, no hope for recovery ever".

ceebeeto		2006-07-04 01:39:09 AM

Terry Wallis, 42, is thought to be the only person in the United States to recover so dramatically so long after a severe brain injury. He still needs help eating and cannot walk, but his speech continues to improve and he can count to 25 without interruption.

Submitter - RTFA!!

Goodfella		2006-07-04 01:39:31 AM

Syder

Possibly one of the worst movies ever made. And yet so funny. It's almost as if Seagal doesnt think of himself as an action star as much as he does a comedic genius.

Dmala		2006-07-04 01:39:40 AM

Darth Jackass: Imagine being this guy. You're a retard sent back to the 80's, only you're unable to move forward in time and remain in the same period for the rest of your life.

I dunno, maybe it's better that he's not all there. Imagine being fully aware of the fact that you crashed your car at 19 and woke up at 39. Not only are you significantly disabled, but 20 prime years of your life are just gone. That's the stuff of nightmares, if you ask me.