Martin Pistorius (born 31 December 1975) is a South African man who had locked-in syndrome and was unable to move or communicate for 12 years.
[6][7][8] During the late 1980s, Pistorius and his parents were living in South Africa, when at the age of 12 he slowly began developing symptoms that included losing the ability to move by himself.
At night, he was primarily cared for by his father Rodney, who stated that he woke up every two hours to turn his son so that he would not develop bed sores.
After recovery, he spoke about major world events – such as Nelson Mandela becoming president, the death of Princess Diana, and the September 11 attacks – that happened when he was unable to communicate.
[11] He hated the children's television program Barney & Friends – re-runs of which were shown in units where he was recovering – and subsequently tried to think about things that gave him some control over his external reality, such as telling the time by tracking sunlight in a room.
[11] Pistorius believes that he began regaining consciousness in the early 1990s, during which time he was able to sense the people around him but did not immediately recall previous events, something he has described as "a bit like a baby being born".
[8] Pistorius's story found a considerably larger audience after being featured on the first episode of NPR's podcast Invisibilia, titled "The Secret History of Thoughts".