Kate Allatt's husband had never known her to be ill. She used to go to the gym. At weekends she went fell-running.She developed a constant headache. A doctor said it was a migraine. Then she collapsed. Doctors said she had a blood clot in her brain stem and put her into an induced coma.
When she came out of the coma she had tubes everywhere, including a big one in her mouth helping her breathe. She could see, she could hear, but she couldn't speak. She was suffering from locked-in syndrome.
Kate wasn't able to move, not even her eyeballs. All she could move was her eyelids. Her husband and children talked to her, but she couldn't respond.
Doctors said she was brain dead.
Then her husband noticed she opened her eyes when there was an interesting programme on TV, and closed them when there wasn't.
"Kate," he said, "can you understand? Blink if you can." She blinked. "Do it again." She did it again. They had established a means of communication.
Even so, doctors believed she would never walk or talk again.
Within weeks, she moved her thumb. Within months, she managed to sit up. She spent a weekend practising mouth exercises given her by a therapist. When her favourite nurse arrived, she said "Morning!" The nurse burst into tears.
She began to use crutches. Three months ago, a year to the day after her collapse, she got on to a running track and ran 20 metres. It was only 20 metres, but she ran.
The Daily Mail recently told her story. As I read it, I had tears in my eyes.
Why? Some people said to be brain dead are having food and water withdrawn from them until they die. As funds become tighter and the number of patients increases, that sort of thing is likely to become more common.
Human life is inestimably precious. Human beings are not here to be disposed of. Taking innocent human life is wrong.
