Coma Whisperer

Juan Torres was declared to be in a permanent vegetative state. Until one day, he woke up, shocking his family and neuroscientists. The craziest part? He actually remembered what happened.

A 25-year-old man in a coma may have had his recovery kickstarted after researchers 'excited' his brain tissue with ultrasound pulses. The man was showing minimal signs of being conscious and understanding speech before the treatment, but a day after scientists at the University of  California, Los Angeles  (UCLA) beamed ultrasound waves into his  brain , his responses improved measurably. Three days later he regained full consciousness and language comprehension. Researchers targeted the patient’s thalamus – the part of the brain that regulates consciousness – with low-intensity pulses of ultrasound energy. This excited the neutrons in his thalamus and, the researchers believe, triggered the man’s brain to 'wake up'. "Until now, the only way to achieve this was a risky surgical procedure known as deep brain stimulation, in which electrodes are implanted directly inside the thalamus," said Martin Monti, the study’s lead author. "Our approach directly targ

A woman in Mainz, Germany, who had been in a coma for  27 years , woke up when she found her way to a specialty clinic.  Read her story at:  https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/doctor-describes-ecstatic-moment-coma-patient-woke-after-27-years-n998421 Schoen Clinic in Germany

Richard Hammond, a presenter on the popular car show "Top Gear," was involved in a serious car crash while filming in 2006. He was in a coma for weeks following the accident. However, he has since recovered and continues to work as a television presenter and journalist. In the video below, he discusses his experience with non-local consciousness during the coma, while his doctors were predicting a poor outcome and saying it was hopeless, his wife kept the faith. The video is short and it's a great story.