OT - Dead Man Walking....

[Behshad]

OKLAHOMA CITY - Four months after he was declared brain dead and doctors were about to remove his organs for transplant, Zach Dunlap says he feels "pretty good."


Dunlap was pronounced dead Nov. 19 at United Regional Healthcare System in Wichita Falls, Texas, after he was injured in an all-terrain vehicle accident. His family approved having his organs harvested.

As family members were paying their last respects, he moved his foot and hand. He reacted to a pocketknife scraped across his foot and to pressure applied under a fingernail. After 48 days in the hospital, he was allowed to return home, where he continues to work on his recovery.

On Monday, he and his family were in New York, appearing on NBC's "Today."

"I feel pretty good. but it's just hard ... just ain't got the patience," Dunlap told NBC.

Dunlap, 21, of Frederick, said he has no recollection of the crash.

"I remember a little bit that was about an hour before the accident happened. But then about six hours before that, I remember," he said.

Dunlap said one thing he does remember is hearing the doctors pronounce him dead.

"I'm glad I couldn't get up and do what I wanted to do," he said.

Asked if he would have wanted to get up and shake them and say he's alive, Dunlap responded: "Probably would have been a broken window that went out."

His father, Doug, said he saw the results of the brain scan.

"There was no activity at all, no blood flow at all."

Zach's mother, Pam, said that when she discovered he was still alive, "That was the most miraculous feeling."

"We had gone, like I said, from the lowest possible emotion that a parent could feel to the top of the mountains again," she said.

She said her son is doing "amazingly well," but still has problems with his memory as his brain heals from the traumatic injury.

"It may take a year or more ... before he completely recovers," she said. "But that's OK. It doesn't matter how long it takes. We're just all so thankful and blessed that we have him here."

Dunlap now has the pocketknife that was scraped across his foot, causing the first reaction.

"Just makes me thankful, makes me thankful that they didn't give up," he said. "Only the good die young, so I didn't go."

[StoneCold]

Unbelievable story. Here's video of him on the today show.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23775873/

[Saint John]

Looks like a Republican. Glad he pulled through.

[StoneCold]

Looks like a Republican. Glad he pulled through.

Every vote counts, eh?

The doctors should be studying this case big time. How did he go from brain dead to able to move?

He said he could hear the doctors talking so was it faulty equipment or operator error on the monitoring?

[piecesofeight]

Looks like a Republican. Glad he pulled through.

Every vote counts, eh?

The doctors should be studying this case big time. How did he go from brain dead to able to move?

He said he could hear the doctors talking so was it faulty equipment or operator error on the monitoring?

[mistiejourney]

Looks like a Republican. Glad he pulled through.

Every vote counts, eh?

The doctors should be studying this case big time. How did he go from brain dead to able to move?

He said he could hear the doctors talking so was it faulty equipment or operator error on the monitoring?

Damn! This is something else - hearing is the last sense to go and the first to come back...it almost sounds like he was "locked in" - brain functional but body not responsive. But how the hell could the tests be sooooo bad and then he recovers? EEGs that show no brain function?

Then again, my father blew out the entire right side of his brain in a huge stroke/bleed. Neurologist said he should be a vegetable as the whole side of his brain was dead. He recovered completely within 8 days. Walk, talk, no weakness, writing without a problem and even drawing his cartoons.

The neuro doc used the term "miracle".

And then Dad died of a heart attack ten days after coming home.

[Moon Beam]

Looks like a Republican. Glad he pulled through.

That's not nice and you know it.
I can still laugh at your arsness though.

[scarygirl]

Looks like a Republican. Glad he pulled through.

Every vote counts, eh?

The doctors should be studying this case big time. How did he go from brain dead to able to move?

He said he could hear the doctors talking so was it faulty equipment or operator error on the monitoring?

Happens more often than you think. There have been children born with just a brain stem surviving to kindergarten age. Not just living, but learning. I read an account of a child who lived to age five. Though doctors said it wasn't possible, she learned her colors and how to count. A brain stem ordinarily only controls minimal function like breathing. Just goes to show doctors don;t know everything. Stories like that cited by the OP makes me wonder how many people have been put down too soon just because science said they're dead.

[scarygirl]

Looks like a Republican. Glad he pulled through.

Every vote counts, eh?

The doctors should be studying this case big time. How did he go from brain dead to able to move?

He said he could hear the doctors talking so was it faulty equipment or operator error on the monitoring?

Damn! This is something else - hearing is the last sense to go and the first to come back...it almost sounds like he was "locked in" - brain functional but body not responsive. But how the hell could the tests be sooooo bad and then he recovers? EEGs that show no brain function?

Then again, my father blew out the entire right side of his brain in a huge stroke/bleed. Neurologist said he should be a vegetable as the whole side of his brain was dead. He recovered completely within 8 days. Walk, talk, no weakness, writing without a problem and even drawing his cartoons.

The neuro doc used the term "miracle".

And then Dad died of a heart attack ten days after coming home.

What happened with your dad most likely is that the other part of his brain took over the functions that the right side of his brain used to provide.

Sorry for your loss.