Boy who spent 12 years of his life in a coma heard his mom say, 'I hope you die'

"“Martin Pistorius (born 31 December 1975) is a South African man who had locked-in syndrome and was unable to move or communicate for 12 years.

When he was 12, he began losing voluntary motor control and eventually fell into a vegetative state for three years. He began regaining consciousness around age 16 and achieved full consciousness by age 19, although he was still completely paralysed with the exception of his eyes. He was unable to communicate with other people until his caregiver Virna van der Walt noticed that he could use his eyes to respond to her words. She sent him to the Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication at the University of Pretoria[2] for testing, where they confirmed that he was conscious and aware of his surroundings.

Doctors were unable to diagnose the exact ailment and believed it was cryptococcal meningitis and tuberculosis of the brain.[4][10] Pistorius eventually fell into a vegetative state that lasted four years,[11] during which time doctors informed his parents that they did not expect Pistorius to re-awaken or survive for much longer.[citation needed] Starting at age 14, Pistorius received part of his daily care via a care home during the day. At night, he was primarily cared for by his father Rodney, who stated that he woke up every two hours to turn his son so that he would not develop bed sores.[4] While unconscious, Pistorius was able to hear and understand conversations his relatives were having by his bedside, although they did not know this. After recovery, he spoke about major world events – such as the death of Princess Diana, Nelson Mandela becoming president, and the September 11 attacks – that happened when he was unable to communicate.[11] He hated the children's television program character Barney – re-runs of which were shown in units where he was recovering – and subsequently tried to think about things that gave him some control over his external reality, such as telling the time by tracking sunlight in a room.[11]

Pistorius met his wife Joanna, a UK resident, in 2008 through his sister Kim, who had moved to the United Kingdom for her job.[citation needed] He later moved to the United Kingdom, and they were married in 2009.[10] He described the terrifying experience of being aware but paralysed in a short video recording in 2018, when the couple were about to have a child. By that time, while still using a wheelchair, he was racing in it.[5] Their son, Sebastian Albert Pistorius, was born a few months later on 6 December.[12]”" - Wikipedia

“In his book, Pistorius describes how he has learned to put the past behind him and focus on the future. And he has forgiven his mother, who once said to him, in a moment of frustration, that she wished he would simply die so that the pain could be over.” - CTV News