Man became one of the first people in the world to recover from condition that left him 'locked in his body'
Anish Vij
Featured Image Credit: CBS
Jacob Haendel was a hard drug user in his early days, from opioids to street heroin, he used to party hard following the death of his mum.
Yet his whole world came crashing down when the one-time chef was put in hospital after a suspected stroke.
But bizarrely, his scans actually showed something else.
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Doctors discovered that Jacob's brain had been 'locked out of his body' due to a possible toxin ingested somewhere along the way.
He had developed a very rare condition, which is almost impossible to pronounce - Toxic Acute Progressive Leukoencephalopathy.
It meant that the 28-year-old was pretty much locked in a coffin of his own body.
For six months there was no movement whatsoever and he lay in a care facility, using a machine to keep breathing.
Eventually Jacob was put in a hospice.
"There are only a few dozen people, since the first report in 1982 of the type of brain injury that Jacob experienced," Dr. Brian Edlow explained to CBS in 2021.
"You know, by Christmas that year, they actually called us, [saying] 'It's over, you know, he's got a couple of days,'" said Haendel's stepfather, Eli Wylen.
Remarkably though, after half a year of life support, doctors suddenly spotted a very slight movement in his wrist.
He was alive and conscious...all this time.
After a few weeks he regained the ability to speak, later explaining how he remembered conversations between medical staff who would talk about him being 'brain dead'.
"There are very few people like Jacob who have ever been described in the medical literature," Edlow said.
Edlow said: "To go through all of that, being fully aware and having others not realize it? I can't even imagine the feeling of isolation, or the sensation of fear that one might experience. It's truly humbling, to think about how little we understood his brain function at that time."
Not only could Jacob hear everything, but he felt everything too.
"I was, like, 'Ugh, this is the worst because I had so many needs and I was in so much pain, and I couldn't even tell anyone I need help, like, 'My mouth is dry,' or like, 'I'm hungry,' or 'I love you,' or 'Don't worry.' These were the hardest things," Jacob said.
"I don't particularly think there's anything super-special about me per se.
"Anybody has the capacity to do this, if they have the will power.
"I am an improved Jake.
"And I'm a happier Jake. I don't want to give up."