Rom Houben Coma not a Coma: Steven Laureys is Rom Houbens Doctor

Rom Houben is a Belgium man who was completely paralyzed after an auto accident when he was 23 years old. Houben was believed to be in a vegetative state, but he was completely conscious and heard every word said around him. See update and new video below.

Rom Houben

Houben is now 46 years old and this unbelievable story has just been released. After years of utilizing the "the internationally accepted Glasgow Coma Scale," and misdiagnosing Mr. Houben, "hi-tech scans" showed that this brain was still functioning almost completely normally."

Only a re-evaluation of his case at the University of Liege discovered that he had lost control of his body but was still fully aware of what was happening.

He is never likely to leave hospital, but as well as his computer he now has a special device above his bed which lets him read books while lying down.

For 23 years, Houben could not indicate to family, friends or doctors that he could hear every word they were saying. With therapy, once he was accurately diagnosed, he was able to progress to tapping out messages on a computer screen. Just think what computers were like 23 years ago.

'I want to read, talk with my friends via the computer and enjoy my life now that people know I am not dead.'

Mr Houben said: 'All that time I just literally dreamed of a better life. Frustration is too small a word to describe what I felt.'

Read the following carefully, and talk about it with your loved ones. How frightening is this?

Dr Laureys's new study claims that patients classed as in a vegetative state are often misdiagnosed.

'Anyone who bears the stamp of "unconscious" just one time hardly ever gets rid of it again,' he said....

...an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 people a year remain trapped in an intermediate stage - they go on living without ever coming back again.'

A story like this makes me think of Terry Schiavo, whose family fought a bitter and years long battle with Schiavo's husband and guardian, Michael Schiavo. Terry's family believed she was conscious. Michael wanted her removed from the feeding tube. He eventually won, and Terry died of dehydration 13 days later. I have some measured amount of empathy for Michael Schiavo in this matter, and full and complete sympathy for Terry's parents. I would never want to stay alive because of a feeding tube, and I can see removing it when there is no hope of brain activity, but I will never understand letting anyone die of dehydration. I wonder how ObamaCare would handle a case like this?

Rom Houben's case should have physicians throughout the world reevaluating their comatose patients. In the meantime, I say Mr. Houben should have everything his heart desires, and I look forward to the inevitable interviews that are sure to be on newsstands soon. In the new video below, you'll see a "facilitator" assisting Mr. Houben as he or she types a message into his computer.

Update: A reader, Yogarine, led me to this article, questioning "facilitated communication," and whether Houben or his assistant is actually doing the typing. If you watch to the end of the video, you will see a close up of Mr. Houben's hand, and it seems apparent that Houben cannot move his finger, and probably cannot "lead" the facilitator.

This man in the msnbc.com piece is not seeing the screen. He is not aware of what is going on. He is an unknowing victim of these charlatans. A simple test - such as that done on October 19^th, 1993, in a Frontline (PBS) documentary highlighting these concerns, "Prisoners of Silence," would prove that FC is a total fraud.  This powerful and comprehensive program proved that FC was a delusion.

Photo courtesy the DailyMail.

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Rom Houben and facilitator (video)

Lady Catherine Ashton is EU Foreign Minister: Baronness Catherine Ashton is EU High Representative

Britain's Lady Catherine Margaret Ashton will become the new European Union's (EU) foreign policy minister to serve under new EU President Herman van Rompuy of Belgium. She replaces Javier Solana.

Lady Catherine Ashton

Lady Ashton (52), or formally Baroness Ashton of Upholland, is married to Peter Kellner, the President of YouGov, a pollster, commentator and journalist. Ashton is a member of Labour, and has served as the Leader of the House of Lords and Lord President of the Council. She replaces Javier Solana.

Ashton, as High Representative, will be the face of foreign policy for the EU and will spend most her time traveling, with an intense focus on the Middle East. Daniel Hannan, a Conservative Member of Parliament criticized Ashton's appointment as Trade Commissioner for the European Parliament. Hannan said she had to experience "in trade issues at a time when the EU is engaged in critical negotiations with Canada, Korea and the WTO.

News of her promotion will astound British diplomats, who would not have regarded her senior enough for the job. The two new posts are meant to bolster the EU’s influence overseas.

According to the Daily Mail, this new role for Ashton will "make her one of the world's most powerful unelected figures," even thought the Mail says, "she has had an umimpressive spell as EU trade comminssioner:

Baroness Ashton of Upholland will now be able to rule the roost over thousands of staff from a grace-and-favour home in Brussels. And, despite having desperately little foreign affairs experience, she will find herself representing the European Union in capitals all over the world.

It is a remarkable rise for a woman who is virtually unknown in Britain, let alone in Europe.

 The Wall Street Journal says Ashton will be in charge of the EU's military missions overseas with an annual budget of $5.96 billion.

Herman van Rompuy is a Christian Democrat, and a devout Catholic. Van Rompuy's presidency will be the EU's first full-time president.

Both Ashton and van Rompuy will assume their posts on December 1st.