[UA] Mom, Pepsi, milk

[Robert Hopt]

>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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