At the age of 57, an Arkansas man died after spending nearly two decades in a coma before waking up and regaining his ability to communicate.
According to an obituary initially published by The New York Post, Terry Wayne Wallis died on Tuesday. When a handful of news organizations, notably CNN and the BBC, reported on Wallis’ miraculous recovery and resuscitation in 2003, his story became semi-famous.
Wallis was 19 years old when he and a driving companion got into a car accident. It left him in a coma and killed the driver. A second passenger was safe in the horrific accident. Wallis spent nearly 19 years in a vegetative state before waking up and surprising his caregivers by regaining the capacity to talk in less than a month.
“He started out with ‘Mom,’ and then it was ‘Pepsi,’ and then it was ‘milk,’” an employee with the Stone County Rehabilitation Center told news outlets at the time.
After that, his ability returned quickly, they added: “And now it’s anything he wants to say.”
Wallis is survived by his granddaughters and his daughter Amber, who was born shortly before the accident.
Angilee Wallis, his mother, called her son’s recovery in 2003 a “miracle.”
On the day he emerged from his coma, she remarked, “I couldn’t tell you my first thought, I just fell over on the floor,”
“Doctors believe that this stimulation contributed to his awakening period.” according to his obituary. His family members would often visit him during his period of unconsciousness. They would bring him home from the hospital on alternating weekends.
Mr. Wallis’ obituary stated, “Terry was a great teaser and loved to tease his sister.” “His wonderful sense of humor will be greatly missed by his family.”