He also takes us on a vivid voyage through his memories of his work, holidays, and family. To escape, his “mind takes flight like a butterfly” and he finds solace in fantasies of wine, women, and song. Likening this suspended animation to “a giant invisible diving-bell holding my whole body prisoner” he describes the unforgiving reality of disability and the banality of complete dependence for communication, ablutions, or even changing the television channel-something many doctors, patients, and carers can identify with. Using an intuitive alphabet, through blinking, he learns to communicate, and painstakingly dictates this book. Only Sandrine, his speech therapist, reaches out with kindness, patience, and empathy. He discusses scabrous orderlies, “arrogant, brusque, sarcastic” doctors, and a fear of losing the use of the “only window to his cell,” his left eye. The book focuses on his room in a naval hospital on the north coast of France. The resulting “locked-in syndrome” means he is unable to speak or move-his only means of interaction is through blinking his left eye. Translated from the French, The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly is a beautiful and poignant account of a 45 year old father of two falling victim to a catastrophic stroke.
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