Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Pursued by Truth

Home
Catholic
The Boy Who Would Not Die

The Boy Who Would Not Die

Last updated on: January 13, 2015 at 9:22 pm by Sr. Theresa Aletheia Noble

The Boy Who Would Not Die 2015-01-13T21:22:22-04:00 Sr. Theresa Aletheia Noble

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Martin’s Book: ghostboybook.com

It is easy to get caught up in the little annoyances of life, to feel sorry for ourselves when we are misunderstood, or tired, lonely, and angry. But when I am feeling down, I often find that God has a way of reminding me that I really am blessed in so many ways. So often I zero in on what is going wrong in my life, only to take for granted almost everything else. Like the fact that I am able to move. And speak…

Martin Pistorius became ill when he was twelve years old. His medical case was a mystery and he slowly began to lose his ability to move, to communicate and eventually was incorrectly diagnosed by doctors to be a vegetable, unable to understand or think. Doctors sent Martin home with his family, assuming he would pass away soon.

But Martin did not die.

His family cared for his body assuming nothing was going on in Martin’s mind. For twelve years this went on but, little did they know, Martin was actually aware of all that went on around him beginning four years after he went into a coma.

As one would expect, Martin was often overcome by negative thoughts. He wanted to escape. At one point, he even wanted to die. He dreaded his time spend in a care home, and suffered from abuse from some of his caretakers. Once, in frustration, Martin’s mother even said to him that she wished he would die.

But eventually Martin began to work with all that went on in his mind, first by detaching from the negativity, and then later by engaging with his thoughts, and by using his imagination. Then, one day, Martin slowly began to get movement back in his body. Within two years Martin was communicating through a laptop and even got a job filing papers.

Today, Martin is married and the author of a bestselling book called Ghost Boy.

– You can find a sample chapter of Martin’s book here.

– I also stumbled upon this lovely video of Martin and his wife introducing his book to a publisher.

– NPR has a great article about Martin and they also tell his story in the episode “Locked in Man” of their new show Invisibilia.

– – –

In NPR’s interview of Martin, he recounts listening to the Whitney Houston song “Greatest Love of All.” Upon hearing her sing the words, “They can’t take away my dignity,” Martin thought, “You want to bet?”

As I thought about Martin’s years alone, by himself with his thoughts it made me think of the many people who may not be in Martin’s exact situation but have lost human contact and respect:

Prisoners. The elderly. Disabled men and women.

The list could go on and on.

Martin’s story encourages me to reevaluate my own problems, which are much less serious than Martin’s, and to ask myself, “As a Christian, how am I present to people who are locked inside their bodies, their apartments, their minds, their cells?”

When was the last time you participated in a corporal work of mercy?

Feel free to share in the comments.

UPDATE: I wanted to know whether a belief in God helped Martin to get through twelve years without being able to communicate with anyone or move. I searched a lot of articles about his case and found nothing. Of course, I knew that did not necessarily mean that Martin did not have faith.

Finally, I watched the trailer for his book which makes it clear that faith did help Martin get through those years:

Inspire Me

Social Justice

Social Teaching

Catholic Social Teaching

Corporal Work of Mercy

Human Dignity

Inspiration

Martin Pistorius

Previous Post

January 7, 2015

Help STOP the Execution of Richard Glossip - UPDATED AGAIN!

Next Post

January 13, 2015 #PrayforNigeria - Massacre Reportedly Kills Thousands

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Advent Art Atheism Book Reviews Christmas Church Issues Discernment Easter Ecumenism Entertainment Environment Eucharist Evangelization Family Freebies Guest Post Holy Spirit Inspire Me Interreligious Dialogue Jesus Lectio Divina Lent Life Issues Liturgical Season Mary Media MISC Movie Reviews Pauline Pope Francis Prayer Prayer Intention Religious Life Saints Sanctity Scripture Social Justice Social Teaching St. Paul Theology of the Body Uncategorized US News Vocations World News Writing Year of Mercy

Select a Month September 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who traveled with Paul and received letters to lead churches in Crete?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Luke Titus Timothy Barnabas