Being confined inside your own body, unable to move or communicate, and with no one, including yourself, recognizing you are still there, may sound like the worst nightmare imaginable. Such terrible stories, unfortunately, are some people’s reality.
Martin Pistorius, a 12-year-old South African kid, was diagnosed with an unknown neurological condition. It wasn’t long before he was unable to move or talk. He had merely fallen into an odd coma, or so everyone assumed!
He appeared to be utterly ignorant of his surroundings, although this was far from the case. He became aware of his illness a few years after becoming bed-bound, but there was little he could do because he couldn’t move or speak.
Doctors didn’t realize he was still alive and locked inside his own body until years later. “My awareness was something that happened gradually, so it wasn’t like I was asleep and then I was awake,” he told All in the Mind. “As my awareness returned, it took me a while to fully comprehend that I was trapped inside my body,” Martin recounted after partially regaining his life.
We can never imagine what it must be like to go through something as terrifying as Martin did. Martin can now walk, but he has never been able to speak again. His speech is instead aided by computer-assisted communication. He is married and owns his own business in Essex, England. Martin’s life experience was documented in a book that became a best-seller, Ghost Boy: My Escape from a Life Locked Inside My Own Body, published by Simon & Schuster.
Over 10 million people watched his NBC News interview. For more on his incredible story, watch the video below and SHARE it with your family and friends on Facebook because it’s so worth it.