[UA] Mom, Pepsi, milk

[Daniel Butler]

A 19 year curse, powered by his friend's mortal sacrifice? Or maybe it was a
blessing.

Maybe the Pepsi corporation has put astral parasites in their drinks and his
friend was trying to trap the guy [and thus the bug] in a coma, knowing the
'site couldn't feed off a technically dead brain. 19 years later, the
parasite has kicked the bucket and he's awake.

But... milk?


----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert Hopt" <hauptkov at hotmail.com>
To: <ua at lists.uchicago.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2003 5:52 PM
Subject: [UA] Mom, Pepsi, milk


> From the AP via AOL, though I'm too lazy to find a copy of the story
> online... :)    Wouldn't be UA except for the last paragraph.
>
> Man Speaks After 19-Year Coma
>
> MOUNTAIN VIEW, Ark. (July 9) - The words began tumbling out - at first
just
> a few nouns and eventually a torrent of phrases.
>
> Terry Wallis, who had been in a coma since a 1984 car accident, regained
> consciousness last month to the surprise of doctors and the delight of his
> family, including his mother, who heard his first word in 19 years.
>
> ``He started out with 'Mom' and surprised her and then it was 'Pepsi' and
> then it was 'milk.' And now it's anything he wants to say,'' Stone County
> Nursing and Rehabilitation Center social director Alesha Badgley said
> Tuesday.
>
> His mother, Angilee Wallis, called her son's return to consciousness a
> miracle: ``I couldn't tell you my first thought, I just fell over on the
> floor,'' she said.
>
> Terry Wallis, now 39, was riding with a friend in July 1984 when their car
> left the road and plunged into a creek. Wallis and his friend were found
the
> next day underneath a bridge. The friend was dead and Wallis was comatose.
>
> Wallis' daughter, Amber, was born shortly before the accident, and the
coma
> dragged on for almost two decades. She is now 19 and her dad has said he
> wants to walk again, for her. He is a quadriplegic as a result of the
crash.
>
> ``It's been hard dealing with it, it's been hard realizing the man I
married
> can't be there,'' said Wallis' wife, Sandi. ``We all, the whole family,
> missed out on his company.''
>
> The silence ended June 12 when Wallis uttered his first word. He was able
to
> talk a little more a day later and has improved ever since.
>
> Terry's father, Jerry Wallis, said his son talks almost nonstop now, but
it
> seems as though time stopped for him after the wreck. Terry still believes
> Ronald Reagan is the president.
>
> Terry has asked to speak to his grandmother, who died several years ago,
and
> even recited her phone number - something everyone else in the family had
> forgotten.
>
> ``You see, he's still back in 1984,'' said Jerry Wallis.
>
> For the Wallis family, Terry's return to consciousness has been a
blessing.
>
> Perry Wallis, Terry' brother, said ``just to put it bluntly, it was pure
> hell to see your brother laying there, not knowing if you'll ever talk to
> him again.''
>
> The timing of the recovery also has raised eyebrows.
>
> ``It's kind of peculiar. He wrecked on Friday the 13th and 19 years later
he
> started talking on Friday the 13th,'' Jerry Wallis said.
>
> 07/09/03 07:59 EDT
>
> Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP
> news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise
> distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
> All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
>
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