Rom Houben from Belgium is living proof that appearances are deceiving. For 23 years, he was trapped inside of a body that doctors, family and friends thought was dead and unfeeling. In fact, he was awake and aware of everything happening around him, he was just unable to say so.

Coma patients, especially those who are considered to be stuck in a “deep coma”, are often taken for dead by those around them. They are lost causes that need to make a painless transition to permanent death instead of the vegetative state they are in. Leaving them in their vegetative state is seen as being inhumane and they need the dignity of death instead of living in the indignity of life. Yes. We have now turned doctors into mini-gods. They can decide when a patient’s life is no longer worth living. So, we get cases where doctors pull coma patients off feeding tubes because they are not “really living” anyway. They are better off dead.

I dare to say that Rom would argue with this logic. After 23 years of being taken for dead, he was finally granted an acknowledgment of life. Three years ago, his doctor decided to conduct more testing to see if he really was alive. He had already been ruled out as a lost cause. But, this doctor tried again. With new technology, Rom was able to finally communicate his life. He is now able to use a computer to communicate what was trapped inside his paralyzed body, unable to be released.

Rom was able to hear what was going on around him. He sensed what was happening and comprehended it. Yet, his body did not allow him to express what was going on in his brain. So, he screamed, with no one able to hear him. He describes the moment when doctors finally acknowledged his life his “second birth”.

The doctor who discovered Rom’s consciousness went on to test more patients to see if those once taken for dead were also still living. One-fourth of those tested were still conscious. Now, it is predicted that one of four unconscious coma patients are still able to sense and understand what is happening around them. They are just unable to get their paralyzed body to express it.