Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers. Among the things I'm thankful for is that this didn't happen to me: a Belgian man spent 23 years unable to move, misdiagnosed as being in a comatose, vegetative state. In actuality, he was aware of everything going on around him for the entire time.

Perhaps it's a lack of imagination on my part, but I can't imagine much worse than this. In fact, isn't this the premise of some horror short story or something? I think I remember some Stephen King something-or-other about a paralyzed man being autopsied while he was still alive. Okay, so no one started cutting on this poor Belgian man, but still... conscious for 23 years and completely unable to interact with the world? Yeah, that's hell right there.

3 comments:

Jason said...

It's like that Metallica video with the guy banging his head on the pillow. I saw the full movie a few years back. A little disturbing, but pretty good overall.

Anonymous said...

That's kind of the ultimate claustrophobia situation...

Now imagine if you heard your family tell the doctor that you've suffered enough and need to be let go of.

FKL

BIL said...

The music video "one" by Metalica (one of their best) was based on the It tells the tale of a soldier whose body is severely damaged after he is hit by German artillery during World War I. His arms, legs, eyes, mouth, nose and ears are gone and he can not see, speak, smell, or hear; but his mind functions perfectly, leaving him a prisoner in his own body. The book was suspended from printing for many years during WWII and the Cold War. Trumbo directed the movie adaptation in 1971, from which the footage for the 'One' music video is takenstory/DVD Johny got his gun. The author was born in Montrose Colorado. Serialized in the Daily Worker in March 1940, the book became "a rally point for the political left" which had opposed involvement in World War II during the period of the Hitler-Stalin pact. Shortly after the 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union, Trumbo and his publishers decided to suspend reprinting the book until the end of the war. After receiving letters from individuals requesting copies of the book, Trumbo contacted the FBI and turned these letters over to them. Trumbo regretted this decision, which he called "foolish," after two FBI agents showed up at his home and it became clear that "their interest lay not in the letters but in me". I own the movie which Jason Robards was in I own it. Sorry to ramble I just liked the story.