Life after locked-in syndrome: Man finds will to live after rare, paralyzing condition
AURORA, Ill. - Lying motionless in a hospital bed, Jose Rodriguez Jr. lost the will to live.
He'd suffered a stroke, fallen into a coma and awoken with an extremely rare condition known as locked-in syndrome. He was unable to move anything except for his eyes.
Previously a healthy young man, Rodriguez now couldn't walk, talk, swallow or even breathe on his own. He felt trapped inside his body.
As the reality of his situation sunk in - that he could no longer work or hug his mother - Junior, as his family calls him, felt the life he'd had was over. He wanted to die.
To survive, doctors said, he needed surgery for a tracheotomy, to attach a ventilator through his throat to keep him breathing.
Rodriguez's father pleaded with him to have the life-saving operation. But now that he was conscious, the decision was his.
When the doctors asked for his answer - looking up meant yes; down was no - Rodriguez didn't respond at first. He thought of his father, with whom he'd always been close; the two even worked at the same Naperville warehouse. However desperate his situation, Junior decided, he did not want to let his father down. He rolled his eyes upward. He
