154 Chapter 8
One spring eve ning when her parents were away from home, Candace had a party. Several
couples and singles from her school came, and her boyfriend brought beer. A wild time was
had by all. Late that night a gunshot rang out. A panicked and distraught Candace had put her
father’s pistol to her head and pulled the trigger. The pain of seeing her boyfriend in the embrace
of another girl was more than she could handle, and in a drunken blur she tried, and failed, to
take her life.
The power ful pistol shot penetrated Candace’s head and tore through the frontal lobes of her
brain. She was immediately rushed to the only hospital in the county, and physicians and nurses
worked for hours to save her life. Candace survived but was forever changed by the damage the
gunshot caused to her brain.
For weeks, she lay in a coma. Doctors, nurses, and aides attended to her, changed the ban dages
on her head, and carefully fed her needed f luid and protein through a tube inserted though her
nose that led to her stomach. Candace remained unresponsive to all external and internal stimula-
tion. Fortunately, she was spared the psychological pain of the tragedy endured by those closest
to her.
Her parents and friends visited her regularly and tried desperately to awaken her from the
deep coma. Over the next few months, Candace was transferred to the hospital’s acute care ward
and fi nally to the rehabilitation unit for coma stimulation. She lay silently in bed, only occasion-
ally opening her eyes, detached from those who tried to reach her. When she did open her eyes,
she did not look at the sources of sounds, visually track persons and things, or even startle at loud
noises. Curiously, she made baby- like sucking actions with her lips when her mother stroked her
arm and tried to comfort her.
Coma stimulation involved all of the senses. The goal was to arouse Candace and create the
general ability to attend to persons and new information. Candace’s parents and the doctors,
nurses, and therapists hoped it would reduce her coma and improve her rehabilitation potential.
Dif fer ent odors and fragrances were placed under her nose, contrasting temperatures and textures
were applied to her skin, and dif fer ent types of sounds penetrated her ears. She was read newspa-
pers and magazines and given full- body massages. Even her playful puppy was brought from the
ranch and carefully placed on her lap. But it was to no avail. Although the stimulation did provide
her parents and friends with activities to reduce their sense of helplessness, nothing could arouse
Candace from her coma.
After many painful months, Candace’s parents and friends accepted the new real ity: there were
no medi cations, doctors, or therapies capable of bringing Candace out of her stupor. Her head
wound healed, although an indentation remained in her forehead. Several months later, Candace
was transferred to a nursing home, where she spent her remaining days oblivious to family, friends,
and the life and love she once knew.