A Belgian man diagnosed as comatose for 23 years was in fact awake and conscious the whole time, doctors have revealed.
Rom Houben, 46, had no way to tell his family and doctors he could see them and hear what they were saying after waking up following a bad car accident in 1983.
He spent more than two decades in excruciating isolation until a neurologist realised he was not in a coma — just unable to communicate.
"I dreamt myself away," Mr Houben was quoted as saying in British newspapers.
"I became a witness to my own suffering as doctors and nurses tried to speak with me until they gave up all hope."
The former engineering student and martial arts enthusiast, now 46, told German newspaper, Der Spiegel that he meditated to pass the long years trapped in his own body.
He remains haunted by the moment he first woke from the accident and realised something was wrong.
"I screamed, but there was nothing to hear," he said.
Doctors at the time diagnosed Mr Houben as being in a persistent vegetative state after running eye, verbal and motor tests and finding him unresponsive.
The diagnosis remained unchallenged until 2006 when neurologist Steven Laureys conducted hi-tech scans and found Mr Houben's brain was functioning normally.
Using a specially-adapted computer to type messages, Mr Houben has been able to describe the ordeal he endured for more than two decades.
"I cried out, but no-one heard me," he said, "I will never forget the day they discovered me - it was my second birth."
The case is only being reported now because Dr Laureys has published it in a medical journal, believing other cases may exist where people have been diagnosed incorrectly.
Mr Houbens is now in care in a hospital near Brussels and able to communicate through a computer.