In one of the most bizarre medical cases in recent times, Rom Houben, who was said to be in a vegetative state after a horrible car crash, has finally been able to communicate and has revealed that, for 23 year, he understood each and ever word that was being said around him, but could not reach out to anyone.

Mr. Houben who is now 46 years old was the victim of a terrible car crash, that left him paralyzed and declared to be in a vegetative state, inspite of the fact that he was conscious throughout his paralyzed state. However, with the advances made in the field of medical sciences, doctors were able to bring him out of his complete paralysis with the help of an advanced brain scan. Mr. Houben, Belgian national is now able to move one finger and is able to communicate via a special touch screen mounted on his wheel chair.

Throughout his agonizing ordeal, Rom Houben’s family continued to refute the medical opinions given by the doctors ans refused to pull the plug on the patient and give him a mercy death. The mother of the victim, Fina, is elated with the improvement in her son’s condition. In a statement, she said,

“At that moment, you think, `Oh, my God. See, now you know.’ I was always convinced.”

In a study conducted by Steven Laureys of Belgium’s Coma Science Group, it has been concluded that, misdiagnosis, especially in the cases where patients suffer from prolonged periods of fluctuating state of consciousness have been quite common. According to the study,

“Despite the importance of diagnostic accuracy, the rate of misdiagnosis of vegetative state has not substantially changed in the past 15 years. Upto 43 percent of patients with disorders of consciousness are erroneously assigned a diagnosis of vegetative state.”

Via BreitBart.