Those Who Recover

A Kansas woman severely brain-injured after an accident in 2002 has begun speaking , to the amazement of her doctor.

On Sept. 3, 2002, Tracy Gaskill suffered critical internal and head injuries when her pickup overturned. Doctors told her relatives that night that she probably would die by noon the next day, her grandfather, Don Gaskill, told the Ark City Traveler.

Not only did Tracy live beyond the day after the accident, she gradually began to improve.

Then, about three weeks ago, she spoke for the first time since the accident, about the same time she began to swallow on her own.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Dr. David Schmeidler told the local paper. "I have never seen this happen in my career. I've read about it happening, the severely brain damaged recovering suddenly, but never seen it , until now."

Continued Schmeidler: "She is actually able to speak and to speak coherently. In light of all this stuff on Terri Schiavo ... it makes you pause and think. For three years or so, (Tracy) was fed through a tube, then she swallowed a little bit and now she speaks."

Tracy received what Schiavo did not, at least in the last several years: therapy.

According to the report, in the last few months, nurses worked with her to get her to hum.

Last week, it was reported Donald Herbert awoke from a coma and spoke for the first time in 10 years. A Buffalo, N.Y., firefighter, Herbert was severely brain injured while fighting a fire in 1995. Eventually, she started to speak clearly.

Remember all the bleeding hearts who defined a human being by what he/she could contribute to society? Remember those who would cut loose people who can't perform mundane tasks, such as feeding themselves? Next time you receive the privilege of speaking to one of these paragons of compassion, remember these stories.