Life With Locked-in Syndrome: ‘Despite Everything, You Are Alive’

A journalist has conversations with three Britons who, after life-changing incidents, have fully active minds but cannot move or speak, and can communicate only via the blink of an eye. This is a story about the remarkable capacities of the human mind:

Bram was aware of being transferred from one specialist unit to another. He was aware that he was then moved to the part of the hospital reserved for the very sickest of patients. When he heard his father pleading with doctors — “No matter the circumstances, a sign of life means there’s hope” — he realised he had to try to make contact. The only way he could show that he was conscious was by opening his eyes. When a doctor finally noticed, he asked Bram to open his eyes when he heard the street he lived on being read out. The doctor named some random streets and then said, “American Road.” Bram opened his eyes and his dad said, “I knew it!”