Inside The Cover: Ghost Boy The Miraculous Escape of a Misdiagnosed Boy Trapped Inside His Own Body By Martin Pistorius ( a book review)

About the book:

In 1988, Martin's life would start to change forever. At 12 years old, he came home from school, complaining of a sore throat and that would be one of the last things he said before unexplained symptoms took his body captive and he lost his voice. In less than 2 years, Martin was wheelchair bound, couldn't speak and was thought to be in a vegetative state caused by an unknown degenerative disease. They couldn't be more wrong. He was in a "virtual coma" for just over 3 years, but the rest of the 12 years that he was though to be mentally gone.. he was completely aware and surprisingly coming back to life. When everyone treated him as a decoration or background image in the scenes he took part in, he was building memories and battling depression. No matter how hard he wanted to, he could not get his body to react to get anyone to notice he was there, until Virna.

Virna was one of Martin's aids, the only aid that paid enough attention to see that there was more to Martin than just a "fixture" waiting to die. With her help, tools were used to give Martin back a voice. Once he had a voice back, recovery was well under way and secrets were exposed. Martin was able to tell all and finally defend himself against unspeakable abuse and describe how lonely and helpless he felt. His story made us rethink what is assumed in a lot of cases like his, that they can't think and they don't know what's happening. Doctor's would never find out what caused his illness but his autobiography certainly gave such a tragic series of events some amazing purpose. Check out the book trailer below.

My own thoughts:

Wow... what an amazing and powerful book! I have read many books that impacted me in some way but this book hit on another level. This book made me feel proud, sad, angry, furious, amused, happy and empowered. His story has proven what I have felt when I look in the eyes of so many others that have been cast to the side as "fixtures". Communication is so important. I learned some sign language to speak with a deaf student who had other complications as well. He was avoided in school and I saw people cringe when he would come close or tried speaking with them. It was heart-breaking. He is a sweetheart. Another student I knew, spoke through his computer like Martin did. He appeared to most people, to not have anything going for him. I heard people mutter things like "What's the sense in him going to school?" If they spent five seconds listening to him, they would realize that not only was he smarter than they gave him credit for.. in fact quite normal in that aspect, but he was funny as well. I get told all the time that Dementia is different though. They say that they really are losing their awareness. Then tell me, why do I recognize my scared and frustrated grandmother at times in her eyes? How do we know what connections are made and what is really going on in her mind? I went on that long vent to show you how emotionally invested I am in stories like these and how Martin's book just cemented them in. I hope stories like his are just the beginning and he helps show that maybe it wasn't Martin who was unaware after all!

About The Author (from his website)

Martin Pistorius was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1975. At the age of twelve an unknown illness left him wheelchair bound and unable to speak, and he spent fourteen years in institutions. In 2001 he learned to communicate via computer, make friends, and change his life. In 2008 he met the love of his life, Joanna, and emmigrated to the UK. In 2009 they married and in 2010 he started his own business. He loves spending time with friends and, most of all, being with his wife.


I received this book from Book Look Bloggers for the purpose of review. The opinions in this post are 100% my own and may differ from yours.