Rom Houben Misdiagnosed as In A Persistent Vegetative State

A former engineering student and martial arts enthusiast, Rom Houben was paralyzed in 1983 car crash. He has expressed the horror he endured for 23 years after he was misdiagnosed as being in a coma when he was conscious the whole time.

He described his real-life nightmare as he screamed to doctors that he could hear them - but could make no sound.

"I screamed, but there was nothing to hear," said Mr Houben, now 46, who doctors thought was in a persistent vegetative state.

"I dreamed myself away,' he added, tapping his tale out with the aid of a computer.

Twenty years ago, Carrie Coons, an 86-year-old from New York, regained consciousness after a year, took small amounts of food by mouth and engaged in conversation.

Only days before her recovery, a judge had granted her family's request for the removal of the feeding tube which had been keeping her alive. More