Man who spent 13 years trapped in his own body woke up to tell his incredible story
A man who spent 13 years trapped in his own body woke up to tell his incredible story.
It all started when Martin Pistorius, who is now 47, came home from school one day suffering from a sore throat.
Just 12-years-old at the time, people first thought Martin simply came down with the flu.
However, his condition became increasingly worse and he was later hospitalised.
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Recalling that moment, he told LADbible: "I tested positive for cryptococcal meningitis and tuberculosis of the brain and was treated for both.
"My body weakened and I lost the ability to speak and control my movements."
Martin's parents, Joan and Rodney, were given the heartbreaking news that there was nothing that could be done, but they decided to keep him alive in a care centre.
Martin later wrote about spending day and night there, describing his life as being like 'an empty shell, unaware of anything around me' in his book, Ghost Boy, which came out back in 2011.
Then, four years later, he had a miraculous breakthrough.
"I remember around my 16th birthday people talking about the stubble on my chin and wondering whether to shave me," he said.
"It scared and confused me to listen to what was being said because, although I had no memories or sense of a past, I was sure I was a child and the voices were speaking about a soon-to-be man."
Martin continued: "I was able to hear, see and understand everything around me but I had absolutely no power or control over anything.
"For me, that feeling of complete and utter powerlessness is probably the worst feeling I have ever experienced, and I hope I never have to experience again. It is like you don't exist, every single thing in your life is decided by someone else.
"Everything, from what you wear, to what you eat and drink, even if you eat or drink, to where you will be tomorrow, or next week, and there is nothing you can do about it."
Now, at the time, no one was aware that Martin was actually conscious and had just assumed he was still in a coma.
So, to help with the boredom, he used his imagination.
"I'd imagine all sorts of things, like being very small and climbing into a spaceship and flying away. Or that my wheelchair would magically transform into a flying vehicle," Martin carried on.
"I would sometimes watch things move, whether it be how sunlight moved throughout the day. Or watching insects of some sort scurry about, but, really, I lived in my mind to the point where at times I was oblivious to the world around me."
Then, in 2001, when Martin was now 25, his life changed forever.
A relief carer at the day centre, Virna van der Walt, encouraged his parents to take him to the Centre For Augmentative and Alternative Communication at the University Of Pretoria.
There, a researcher held up a sheet of paper with symbols on it, and he was asked to locate a ball with his eyes. After finding the shape, he was asked to find the dog.
To help occupy his time, Martin's parents bought a computer, which was preloaded with communication software allowing him to select letters, words or symbols on the device using a band attached to his head and would act like a mouse.
He went to work with the relief carer, Virna in 2003 at the centre, which gave him a sense of purpose and pride and ended up landing himself a paid position at Centre For Augmentative and Alternative Communication, before graduating from a South African university.
Then, just some years later, Martin met Joanna - a South African social worker living in Britain who had become friends with his sister.
"Over the years I have been blessed with many people who have had a real impact on my life," he said.
"Joanna is one of those. I spent so many years thinking, wishing and hoping that I would find someone to share my life with. But I never thought I ever would."
He added: "I remember one time while driving with my dad looking out the car window and thinking, I have so much love inside of me and nobody to give it to.
"But thankfully Joanna and I met. The moment we met, I think deep down I just knew, she was the one."
The pair couple welcomed a son, Sebastian Albert Pistorius, in 2018 and he now posts about his life on social media.
Rhiannon Ingle