LAD BIBLE – Martin Pistorius, now 47, came home from school one day at the age of 12, suffering from a sore throat.
At the time, it was assumed he had the flu, but his condition became increasingly worse and he was hospitalised.
“I tested positive for cryptococcal meningitis and tuberculosis of the brain and was treated for both,” he told LADbible.
“My body weakened and I lost the ability to speak and control my movements.”
Martin’s parents, Joan and Rodney, were told there was nothing that could be done, but they decided to keep him alive in a care centre.
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He would spend the day there and return home every night. In his book, Ghost Boy, he describes that period of his life as being like ‘an empty shell, unaware of anything around me’.
But four years later, there was a 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.
“I was able to hear, see and understand everything around me but I had absolutely no power or control over anything.
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“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.”
At the time, nobody realised that Martin was conscious, assuming he was still in a coma …