this post was submitted on 11 Mar 2026
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This article leaves me asking many questions.

If I were her and felt like I had "conquered death," I would want to find out how all those neurotoxins ended up in my lymphatic system.

Does anybody else in my immediate circle also have them in theirs? Because if they didn't come from the environment and ifs not a question of where did they come from, it might be a question of who did they come from.

[–] Sirdubdee@piefed.social 19 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

You know that sensation of falling while you’re falling asleep? Have they ever tried dropping comatose or brain dead people to see if it wakes them up? In a safe way, like raised 1 foot off a bed in a hoist and fall softly onto a cushion.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 5 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Could you imagine being “locked in” with locked in syndrome and people around you decide to make you “fall”?

[–] Sirdubdee@piefed.social 2 points 13 hours ago

Yeah, you’re right. Roller coasters might be better.

[–] 01189998819991197253@infosec.pub 5 points 17 hours ago (1 children)
[–] 69420@lemmy.world 11 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

It worked in Inception, so I don't see any reason it wouldn't work here.

[–] 01189998819991197253@infosec.pub 3 points 16 hours ago

Legit made me laugh!

[–] WorldsDumbestMan@lemmy.today 57 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Some part of her deep inside, must felt the bump, and realized:

She can't afford the ambulance.

[–] admin@lemmy.today 6 points 11 hours ago

The case is from India, In India ambulances are generally very cheap in fact in some parts they are free, subsidized by the government.

[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 47 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

When turning it off and back on doesn't work, sometime percussive maintenance is the key.

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[–] E_coli42@lemmy.world 3 points 14 hours ago

I've never heard of someone coming back from brain dead. Is this the first recorded case?

[–] KindnessIsPunk@lemmy.ca 126 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Percussive maintenance strikes again

[–] Widdershins@lemmy.world 17 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Had a TV growing up that we kept a large pot on the top of for when it went to static. We'd slam the top of the TV with it. No idea where that TV went but that pot is in my kitchen now.

[–] linux_penguin@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 18 hours ago

at least it’s ready in case you find that TV one day

[–] postmateDumbass@lemmy.world 6 points 21 hours ago
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[–] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 16 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Oooh, I know that one!

What's UP highway?

[–] AlexLost@lemmy.world 4 points 18 hours ago (1 children)
[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 1 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

um two number 9s, a number 9 large, a number 6 with extra dip, a number 7, two number 45s, one with cheese, and a large soda.

[–] AlexLost@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago

Is that two biggie macs, a quarter pounder with cheese and a fillet o fish with extra fries?!

[–] avg@lemmy.zip 143 points 1 day ago (2 children)

An alternative headline is that a woman was nearly burned alive after being misdiagnosed.

[–] paris@lemmy.blahaj.zone 31 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Reading the article, it doesn't seem like a misdiagnosis. She showed all the signs of brain death and her chances of living were basically zero. Her family decided to start making preparations. When her body was being delivered back in an ambulance, they hit a pothole that jolted her brain back into action. Genuinely crazy medical story, but with 8,000,000,000 people on earth, this happening to at least one person is all but guaranteed.

[–] daannii@lemmy.world 22 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago) (3 children)

Brain dead diagnosis is not very scientific based.

Not really. And let me explain.

You can see if there is electrical activity signals , you can do a fMRI scan (shows blood usage which indicates changes in cognitive processing. Most brains show patterns of blood use when doing tasks).

But. When you are unconscious, these always show low activity.

It's not really that much different than someone being under anesthesia. They show the same pattern of brain activity as someone in a coma.

Now sometimes there is specific abnormalities for an injured region. But this just tells you that part of the brain is damaged. It doesn't tell us if the person will regain consciousness

Awareness (consciousness in this definition) is controlled by a specific area in the mid brain (just north of the brain stem) called the renticular activating system.

Damage to this system is considered more conclusive brain death but that's rare because of where it is. But it can still happen.

Actually interesting fact, anesthesia is used to study locked-in and "brain dead," patients. Lots of ongoing research.

Anywho. There is a lot of controversy about what counts as brain dead. And how to distinguish , objectively with tests, from locked-in syndrome. Which is like being aware but being 100% paralyzed.

But one way you can be 100 % sure someone is brain dead is you keep them alive for 6 months to a year. And you compare their white matter scans from a MRI from start to that time.

For those who won't be coming back, they will show pretty fast white matter loss generally everywhere.

Because the brain works like a muscle. Use it or lose it. And a loss that fast means nothing , literally no cognitive or perception processing, is occurring.

But as you can imagine there are ethical issues for that too and , financial ones.

Often if the patient shows no changes in electrical activity and no awareness for a few weeks or so, the general conclusion is they won't be recovering.

Not exactly a reliable conclusion.

[–] avg@lemmy.zip 9 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Lovely reply, thank you for taking the time to educate us.

[–] daannii@lemmy.world 10 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

There was a woman in the 90s who was brain dead and kept alive by life support for many years. It was controversial because her husband wanted to remove her feeding tube but her parents objected. Legally. Long drawn out legal battle from 1990 to 2005.

Anywho.

Here is an image of her brain scan. A CT. Not a MRI. But you can get similar info.

The dark areas are empty fluid filled.

White band around the head is the skull. Didn't know the skull could thicken with brain loss but I suspect that's a rare thing since people aren't typically kept alive that long with a shrinking brain.

Anyway.

You can see comparison of image taken in 2002 after being in her state (1990) for 12 years compared to an average brain of her peer (female of same age).

Her brain weighed about half as much as it should have.

She was finally allowed to die in 2005.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC558485/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terri_Schiavo_case

Depending on your age and if you are in the U.S or not. You might remember hearing about her.

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[–] CannonFodder@lemmy.world 83 points 1 day ago (4 children)

If you read the article, it seems she was properly assessed as having no brain stem activity. Could be a cover up, who knows.
And they wouldn't actually cremate her until there was no pulse. Unless they covered that up too!

I mean obviously we only have the accounts of the article, but they claim her vitals were low, her Glasgow Coma Scale had dropped to a 3, and multiple tests showed she had neurotoxins in her system. It sounds like there are records to back up the claims being made. Obviously someone could always be lying, but it sounds like they've got the right info backing it up here.

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[–] thatradomguy@lemmy.world 7 points 19 hours ago (4 children)

I always wonder what the religious say about these events. Like, clearly, the person was dead at one point and should have pass on, no? So what is the religious answer to explaining why they're alive again? 2nd wind? lol

[–] anas@lemmy.world 9 points 15 hours ago

The answer would be that she was not dead.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 18 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

"It wasn't their time to go."

[–] ouRKaoS@lemmy.today 14 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

"Mysterious Ways"

"God had bigger plans"

"He needed an angel here on earth"

"They've been possessed by the Devil!"

"He's the son of God!"

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 5 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

"He's been possessed by the Devil!"

cocks super shotgun "Shame."

[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 2 points 18 hours ago

they also touched your bunny

[–] JcbAzPx@lemmy.world 5 points 16 hours ago

Dead is kind of a nebulous thing. The religious answer would obviously be it's a miracle. In medicine there's not really a way to tell the moment of death. It usually isn't officially ruled until they give up trying to revive.

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[–] x00z@lemmy.world 89 points 1 day ago (7 children)

This somehow makes way for a "smack the patient in the face" medical treatment.

[–] Wammityblam@lemmy.world 72 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (14 children)

Do you know in the movies when they dramatically slam someone’s chest and yell “live damn it”?

That is called the precordial thump, and it used to be used in codes

Sometimes a good wallop is all someone needs

[–] officermike@lemmy.world 59 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Percussive maintenance, now for people too!

[–] Sabin10@lemmy.world 19 points 1 day ago (2 children)
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[–] Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

In ear and facial surgery where we use nerve monitoring, the surgeon will test for nerve activity by kinda just smacking the patient's face and seeing if it makes the machine beep.

So, even the side of healthcare associated with finesse can just boil down to "punch em a bit". Don't even get me started in orthopedic surgery.

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[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 14 points 1 day ago (3 children)
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[–] BigBrownBeaver@lemmy.world 18 points 1 day ago

Was the doctor AI?

[–] Fedizen@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Reason #1 why we should put sick people into earthquake simulators.

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[–] Etterra@discuss.online 2 points 17 hours ago

This is the equivalent of waking up from a coma via mallet to the head but even more unlikely.

[–] HikingVet@lemmy.ca 37 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Potholes, ruins rims and apparently brings you back to life.

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