Tunnel Vision

19

Miracle? Coma Victim “Resurrected from the Dead”

A 24-year-old Northeastern graduate student who had spent 12 weeks in a coma regained consciousness yesterday at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

The case is being described by some as “a miracle.” Zachary Kashian, who lost control of his bicycle the evening of January 28, sustained serious head trauma and remained in a “persistent vegetative state” until Sunday. According to Dr. Seth Andrew, head of neurology at MGH, he was completely unresponsive to stimulation efforts by the medical staff. “The sudden awakening of coma patients sometimes happens,” said Andrew. “But given the severity of his trauma and coma level, the odds were slim.” He added, “I’m not sure if his waking up is a bona fide miracle, but it’s as close as it gets.”

Others, however, are convinced. “Of course it’s a miracle,” claimed Richard Rossi, one of several people who had earlier flocked to Kashian’s bedside. “He remained comatose for 3 months. Then on Good Friday he speaks the words of Jesus in Aramaic and wakes up on Easter. If that’s not a sign the Lord’s working through him, I don’t know what is.…”

Kashian gained notoriety three days before his emergence when he allegedly recited passages in the ancient language. According to Arthur Avedisian, Harvard professor of Near Eastern languages, his recorded words came from the Sermon on the Mount, a compilation of the sayings of Jesus from the biblical Book of Matthew.…

Although dialects of Aramaic are still spoken by a small number of speakers in the Middle East, it is not known how Kashian could have recalled those passages.…

Maggie stuffed the paper into her briefcase and headed up the elevator to the seventh-floor ward. He had woken up two days ago and had remained alert as the doctors made mental and physical assessments. But he had not been told about the religious fanatics crashing his room, claiming that God was speaking through him.

“He’s doing well,” said Dr. Andrew. “His cognitive functions look normal. We’ve done memory tests as well as verbal, analytical, and visual tests, and he passed them all with flying colors.”

“Thank you,” Maggie said. “I can’t tell you how grateful I am for all you and your staff have done.…” She trailed off, to keep from breaking down.

The doctor gave her a hug. “Of course, he’ll need physical therapy. The PT people were pretty vigorous keeping his muscles exercised. They’re setting up a schedule.”

Because of their efforts, rehab would be no more than a few weeks. And he could be released in a couple of days.

“We’d like to observe him a little more up here before sending him to PT.”

“Is there a problem?”

“Well, we’re not sure.”

Maggie’s heart froze. “What?”

“The MRI shows that he suffered some trauma to his parietal lobe. That’s the area associated with physical orientation. Usually, patients with posterior superior parietal injuries have some difficulty determining their spatial limits—where they end and the external world begins, so to speak. In preliminary tests, he seems fine. But we’d like to make sure he’s a hundred percent—that he can navigate on his own. We’ll be working in conjunction with PT, of course.”

“But you don’t see a problem.” It was more of a statement than a question.

“No, but we want to be certain there’s nothing we aren’t aware of. It’ll be only a few days.”

“Okay.” But she sensed something in the doctor’s hedging.

“I do have a question,” he said. “On the admittance form, it says Zack’s father had passed away. When was that?”

“Three years ago. Why?”

“Well, when he emerged from the coma, he looked at the aide and said, ‘Dad.’ Apparently he’d been dreaming about him when he woke up.”

“He told me. Is that a problem?” She tried not to sound defensive.

“Well, we were constantly monitoring blood flow and electrical activity, and the most active sectors weren’t in areas associated with dreams.”

“I’m sorry, but what are you telling me?”

“I’m not really sure.” He paused a moment to think something over. “Is your son a religious person?”

“Religious? No, and what does that have to do with anything?”

“Well, while he was under, we did some scans and found unusual electrical activity in the areas of his temporal lobe—sectors associated with abstract concept, but also mystical experiences. What some people call the ‘God lobe.’”

“My son’s not religious or mystical. And as far as I know, he’s never taken psychedelic drugs.”

“I’m not implying that. But given the trauma he experienced, the neurocircuitry appears to have undergone some reconfiguration—cross-wiring, if you will.”

Maggie simply nodded, feeling tension constrict her throat.

“Was he close to his father?”

“Not particularly.” She felt her resentment return. “Can I see him now?”

“Of course. And I know how you feel about all the religious fervor regarding the video.”

“Doctor, is there something wrong with him?” She began to wonder if he’d be prone to seizures.

“No, I don’t mean it that way. It’s just that the rest of his brain was in deep sleep, while his parietal lobe was processing information like crazy.”

“What kind of information?”

“I don’t know. Nor do I know where it came from. Areas associated with vision and auditory activity should have been dormant.”

Maggie could feel her anxiety spike. “What are you telling me? What’s wrong with him?”

“I don’t think anything is wrong with him. He’s back to normal. It’s just that while he was comatose, his parietal lobe was extraordinary, as if he were awake and receiving input.”

“Meaning what?”

The doctor shook his head. “I’ve not seen anything like it before. But from the little literature on the subject, I’d say he was having a spiritual experience.”