Polish Man Wakes from Coma after 19 Years

AP Staff/AH : Jun 4, 2007
AP

"I would fly into a rage every time someone would say that people like him should be euthanized, so they don't suffer. I believed Janek would recover...this is my great reward for all the care, faith and love."

A polish man, in a coma for nineteen years, recently returned to consciousness and began relearning how to live. Sixty-five-year-old Jan Grzebski, is reportedly amazed by the colors he sees on the streets of Poland, as his wife walks with him in his wheelchair. The last time he had been out, his country was under communist rule. (Photo: BBC News)

"I could not talk or do anything, now it's much better," says Jan, who now catches up with the world by watching TV in the morning.

Doctors had advised Jan's wife, Gertruda, that he would not live, but, according to the AP report, she never gave up hope. "Now he can sit in his wheelchair and we have breakfast and coffee together," she said.

Gertruda added, "I would fly into a rage every time someone would say that people like him should be euthanized, so they don't suffer. I believed Janek would recover, this is my great reward for all the care, faith and love."

In a Reuters interview, Jan was quoted as saying, "It was Gertruda that saved me, and I'll never forget it."