And we think we have it difficult. This guy needs to be thoroughly researched to see if his neurons have
multitasked and what locations were taken over by functions that used to be in the dead area.
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/health/patient-recovers-after-stroke-kills-half-his-brain-8273266.html
A father-of-two has made a remarkable recovery after a stroke killed half his brain.
George Nightingill, now 46, from Grays in Essex, feared he would never recover after the rare brain attack.
But
now the former construction worker can walk and talk again thanks to
surgeon Christos Tolias. The consultant and his team at King’s College
Hospital in south London removed part of Mr Nightingill’s skull to
relieve the swelling on his brain. The case was one of the most extreme
they had ever seen. The two-hour operation proved life-saving.
Before
the surgery, Mr Tolias told his patient to wait for five years before
thanking him. And now exactly five years on, Mr Nightingill has returned
to King’s to mark the anniversary.
Mr Nightingill said: “I kept
thinking what Mr Tolias said about thanking him in five years’ time —
it’s one of the things that kept going to get to the point I’m at
today.” Mr Tolias said: “It’s cases like this which show how vital it is
that patients come to hospital like King’s, which have the expertise to
deal with such a complex case.”
Strokes occur when the brain is
deprived of oxygen. This lack of oxygen coupled with decreased blood
flow can kill brain cells. A stroke in someone aged under 45 is
considered very rare and one on the scale that Mr Nightingill suffered
is even rarer.
At then time of the operation, his family was told
that surgery was risky and that no one could predict what condition Mr
Nightingill would be in afterwards and for the rest of his life.
He
spent three weeks at King’s then months in a local hospital followed by
years of rehabilitation. His recovery involved relearning everything,
including walking.
Maria Fitzpatrick, consultant nurse for strokes, said: “His brain had to relearn everything that we normally take for granted.”
What an encouraging story. Dean, every day I recognize that my situation could have been far worse than losing my physical abilities and my job. My troubles are less than the struggles of many people in the world. My husband and I once saw a newspaper photo of a man in Southeast Asia carrying a bag of rice over his head while walking through a muddy flooding river up to his neck. When we are feeling badly about our lot, my husband brings up that photo, which forces us to acknowledge how fortunate we are.
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