A man woke up from a coma after 12 years: The words his mother gave him were horrifying

In 1988, Martin Pistorius from South Africa was a typical boy who loved playing with various devices, especially transistors, televisions… His idyllic childhood was suddenly interrupted by a mysterious illness – at the age of 12, one day he came home from school with a sore throat. His mother didn’t pay too much attention to it, thinking how she would do with some honey and tea. However, his condition soon worsened to the point where he could no longer walk, stand, or speak. The doctors assumed that he was suffering from cryptococcal meningitis, and before they could do anything, the boy fell into a coma, writes “NBC News” and reports “Express”.

In the early period of the coma, Martin was not conscious of anything, he was in a deep coma. His family organized special care around him – from bathing, feeding with the help of tubes, turning. But at the age of 16, Martin suddenly woke up – that is, he became aware of everything that was happening around him. However, he still couldn’t even move, communicate with his family or let them know he was “there” in any way. From that moment, another full 8 years of imprisonment in his own body have passed.

They abused him in a home for the infirm

Since they did not have the possibility to take care of him in the afternoon, Martin’s parents left him during working hours in a special Institute for disabled people. In a special documentary, the Pistorius family and Martin himself revealed his extraordinary story.

– I hated being in the Care Center, they were horrible to me. After I woke up and discovered it, my father reported it to them, but of course they deny it. They didn’t do anything to me, they pulled my hair, hit me in the teeth with a metal fork so that I would eat. They often gave me boiling tea, they slapped me, they behaved as if they were not human – said Martin.

In addition, he even complained about sexual abuse in which a nurse in the home stepped on him and simulated sex with him, unbuttoned his shirt and touched his genitals…

– They would put me in front of the TV, which would be on all afternoon. Every day the program was the same, Barney the Dinosaur. God, how much I hated that show – recalls Martin.

“I hope you die”

Of everything he experienced in his comatose body, he cites what his mother said as the most painful moment. Namely, at one point she stood next to him, wiping him with a cloth and looking at his lifeless body she said out loud: “I hope you die”.

Martin heard it and it stuck in his memory. After he regained the ability to communicate, he said to her: “Mom, I heard you tell me “I hope you die”. Although, as he says, it made him terribly sad at the time, today he completely understands.

– The worst thing for me was that I couldn’t hug her, tell her how well she takes care of me, how grateful I am to her – explains Martin in tears.

After a full 12 years in a coma, some employees of the home where he was cared for began to notice changes in his behavior, that is, attempts to communicate. They soon informed his parents, and at the age of 25, Martin received a computer with communication software, with the help of which he still communicates with people today.

He managed to improve his movements with various therapies, and in 2008 he met his future wife through the Internet, for which he moved to Great Britain. For him, every year brings at least some progress, so in 2011 he managed to regain some control over his hands and voice, and he wrote the autobiography “Ghost boy”, which is planned to be made into a film.

However, Martin and his wife Joanna received the happiest news this summer, more precisely in July 2018. After doctors had told them for years that they would never become parents and after the couple came to terms with that fact, Joanna suddenly became pregnant.

When they returned from their holiday in America, Joanna felt sick and thought she had food poisoning.

– For some reason, we decided to take a pregnancy test. When the results came in, we couldn’t believe it. We thought the test was old. We bought a new one, moreover, several new ones and they all showed the same result, that Joanna was pregnant. We were shocked and excited and couldn’t believe that we were so blessed – says Pistorius.

The couple recently found out that they are expecting a boy.

– I can’t wait to be a father – adds Martin and says that Joana is already acting like a real mother and is trying to think of new ways in which Martin will be able to communicate with his child.

(NBC News)