Apparently this condition exists and is called “locked-in syndrom”, tho I don’t know about the specific case mentioned here.
Closest match my quick search revealed was
Martin Pistorius
Not everything matches, this one was had locked-in syndrome for “only” 12 years, but the symptoms check out. Apparently there’s a book about him called “Ghost Boy”, so maybe that’s where the other details are from.
Christine Waddel was the longest case of the syndrom I could find, paralyzed for 15 years.
I also found something closer to the 30 years claim, Rom Houben’s story… Which was a horrible hoax. A man had been in a coma for 23 years, and a psychiatrist claimed that he was actually conscious. He was provided a communication facilitor, used to communicate via a keyboard, and he shared his whole story… But that was all fake, the psychiatrist or someone working with him was writing these messages. But for several years, people wrote about this and believed it, you can still find articles from 2008-2009 that don’t really question the story. Maybe they’re quoting this story without having seen the refutations; but this still would involve some additions or errors on their part (Rom never recovered, for one).
Apparently this condition exists and is called “locked-in syndrom”, tho I don’t know about the specific case mentioned here.
Closest match my quick search revealed was Martin Pistorius Not everything matches, this one was had locked-in syndrome for “only” 12 years, but the symptoms check out. Apparently there’s a book about him called “Ghost Boy”, so maybe that’s where the other details are from.
Christine Waddel was the longest case of the syndrom I could find, paralyzed for 15 years.
I also found something closer to the 30 years claim, Rom Houben’s story… Which was a horrible hoax. A man had been in a coma for 23 years, and a psychiatrist claimed that he was actually conscious. He was provided a communication facilitor, used to communicate via a keyboard, and he shared his whole story… But that was all fake, the psychiatrist or someone working with him was writing these messages. But for several years, people wrote about this and believed it, you can still find articles from 2008-2009 that don’t really question the story. Maybe they’re quoting this story without having seen the refutations; but this still would involve some additions or errors on their part (Rom never recovered, for one).