“Ghost Boy” woke up from coma after being trapped for 12 years
Martin Pistorius: The Man Who Woke Up After 12 Years Locked in His Own Body. Martin Pistorius was just 12 years old in 1988 when he fell ill in South Africa with a sore throat. His condition rapidly worsened, and he eventually slipped into a coma. Doctors diagnosed him with cryptococcal meningitis and tuberculosis of the brain, but couldn’t fully explain his condition.
They told his parents he had the brain function of a 3-month-old baby and to take him home to die. For over a decade, Martin appeared to be in a vegetative state, but after a few years, he began to regain consciousness — trapped in his own body, fully aware but unable to move or speak. He described it as feeling like being “encased in concrete.”
His caregivers didn’t notice he was awake, and he experienced deep loneliness and fear. His breakthrough came when an…
