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Richard Hammond explains what he experienced during his coma | 310mph Crash | Insight into non-local consciousness

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.
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Research Suggests Caution in Early Decisions About Life Support Withdrawal In Coma Patients

While there isn't a precise figure for the number of coma patients removed from life support annually, several studies provide insights into this practice:

A study of 2,100 inpatient deaths found that withdrawal of life-sustaining therapy for perceived poor neurologic prognosis occurred in 25% of cases[3]. This was the sole contributing factor to death in 15% of patients.

In a study of patients with traumatic brain injury:

- 51% had life-sustaining measures withdrawn within 72 hours of injury

- 49% had life support withdrawn after 72 hours[5]

The practice of withdrawing life support varies significantly across medical centers:

- In a study of traumatic brain injury patients, withdrawal of life-sustaining therapy accounted for 70.2% of deaths

- This rate ranged from 45.0% to 86.8% across different centers[1]

Several factors contribute to decisions about withdrawing life support:

- Perceived poor neurological prognosis

- Patient age and injury severity

- Hospital type (teaching vs. non-teaching)

- Regional differences

It's important to note that some research suggests caution in making early decisions about life support withdrawal. A study found that 42% of patients who continued on life support and survived regained some independence up to 12 months after injury[2].

Citations:

[1] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3185074/

[2] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/after-brain-injuries-doctors-and-families-should-take-more-time-with-life-support-decisions-research-finds-180984390/

[3] https://journals.lww.com/ccejournal/fulltext/2021/07000/frequency_of_withdrawal_of_life_sustaining_therapy.23.aspx

[4] https://news.weill.cornell.edu/news/2020/05/doctors-detail-unexpected-recoveries-from-long-term-coma-after-cardiac-arrest

[5] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8486724/

[6] https://www.massgeneralbrigham.org/en/about/newsroom/press-releases/study-reveals-patients-with-brain-injuries-who-died-after-withdrawal-of-life-support-may-have-recovered

[7] https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/newsroom/news-releases/2019/07/scientific-statement-on-predicting-survival-for-cardiac-arrest-survivors

[8] https://academic.oup.com/braincomms/article/4/5/fcac188/6673810

This article was written by Sherry Phipps & Perplexity AI