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A car crash victim who was believed to have been in a coma for the past 23 years has been conscious the whole time. Rom Houben was paralysed but could not let doctors know that he could hear every word they were saying, reports the Daily Mail. "I dreamed myself away," said Mr Houben, now 46, who doctors thought was in a persistent vegatative state. Doctors conducted a series of coma tests before concluding that his consciousness was "extinct". But three years ago, new hi-tech scans showed his brain was still functioning almost completely normally. Mr Houben said: "All that time I just literally dreamed of a better life. Frustration is too small a word to describe what I felt." His case has only just been revealed in a scientific paper released by the man who 'saved' him, top neurological expert Dr Steven Laureys. "Medical advances caught up with him," said Dr Laureys, who believes there may be many similar cases of false comas around the world. Mr Houben, a former martial arts enthusiast, was paralysed in 1983. He is never likely to leave hospital, but as well as his computer he now has a special device above his bed which lets him read books while lying down. Mr Houben said: "I shall never forget the day when they discovered what was truly wrong with me - it was my second birth. "I want to read, talk with my friends via the computer and enjoy my life now that people know I am not dead." Source
Bolivian police managed to track down a man wanted for murder from what was described as the world's worst photo-fit. A taxi driver, named in Bolivian media as Rafael Vargas, was murdered in what police said was either a drugs-related hit or a crime of passion. In March, police found his body, which had been stabbed 11 times before being burnt, reports the Daily Telegraph. Officials issued an appeal for help, and one neighbour drew a picture of what she believed the suspect looked like - though many other people have said her drawing resembles nothing more than the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. The picture, more reminiscent of a child's school drawing than a piece of forensic evidence, consists of a pair of eyes, lopsided lips, a broomstick-shaped nose, and straight eyebrows topped with hair resembling a thatched roof. A newsreader presenting the image on Bolivian television has become a YouTube sensation. In keeping with Bolivian laws, the suspect could not be identified. Instead, media sites blocked his face with images of the bizarre photo-fit. Source
Oregon police have charged a man with drunk driving after he called police to report that his marijuana had been stolen. Calvin Hoover, 21, told dispatchers early on Tuesday that someone had broken into his truck and stolen cash, a jacket and a small amount of marijuana while he was at a tavern. He called police again to complain they had not arrived, but the dispatcher had trouble understanding Hoover - because he was driving and stopping occasionally to vomit. He was arrested on charges of driving under the influence of intoxicants, the local Statesman Journal newspaper reported. Medical marijuana is legal in Oregon, where nearly 21,000 people have permits for use. It was not immediately clear if Hoover had such a permit. Source Have any interesting articles you'd like to share? Article Request Thread.
Lorry driver Jason Ripley was almost killed when he was impaled on a pole which came within inches of piercing his heart. The pole smashed through the windscreen of his truck and continued through his chest. The father-of-two remained conscious long enough to telephone his disbelieving boss to say: "I've had a bit of an accident." Mr Ripley, 39, said he owed his life to paramedics who airlifted him to hospital. The delivery man was taking timber to engineering firm Henry Williams, in his home town, Darlington, when he collided with a steel horizontal barrier in August last year. He told The Sunday Sun in Newcastle: "I just didn't see it at all. It went straight through my chest and out the back. There was seven or eight feet of pole sticking out. "I just thought it was pinning me. I thought it was digging into my flesh but that was it. When I looked down I realised it had gone straight through I was very shocked. It was only two or three inches away from my heart. I was just staring up at the sky, thinking that's it, I'm going to die, I'm not going to see anyone again." As Jason resigned himself to dying, his thoughts turned to his partner Helen Todd, 38, and sons Joshua, 19, and Jay, 11. Fire crews cut a section of the pole away, before a helicopter from the Great North Air Ambulance arrived to take him to the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough. Within minutes, he was put into the hands of doctors who put him into an induced 24-hour coma. Surgeons cut into his ribs and slid the barrier out from the side, under his arm. He had to have one rib removed and another two bound together. Within months of the accident, he had returned to work. Source
A man who says he was using his rifle to shoot at dragonflies accidentally shot his friend in the head. Police said when they arrived the friend was bleeding heavily. But he was conscious enough to be able to tell paramedics that the whole thing had been an accident. According to Georgetown Times, in South Carolina, in the US, the friend and a 38-year-old Johnsonville man were in the woods in a nearby hunting club practicing with a rifle. The man said he was trying to shoot some dragonflies when his friend walked in front of him and was shot in the head. It has been ruled an accident by investigators, police said. Two local schools was closed down for a time as police investigated the shooting. "Not knowing where the victim may be or where the shooter was, I advised the administration of Carvers Bay School to lock down the campus for student safety," Deputy Ryan Owens wrote in his report, the newspaper reported. "Carvers Bay Middle was locked down as well." The friend was flown to a Charleston hospital for treatment. Source,
ENGLAND- A village suffered a power cut after a black thong became tangled in overhead cables, an energy distribution company said. The cut happened in the Lincolnshire village of Leadenham on Wednesday afternoon after the thong was found wrapped in power lines above a croquet lawn. The underwear was apparently attached to a helium balloon which had gone astray. Heavy rain had caused the thong to short circuit the cables, cutting power to 17 homes and businesses in the village. Andrew Barrow, a spokesman for electricity distribution company Central Networks, said: "Our engineers are used to dealing with the unexpected but I think this might be a first for us." He added: "Flying objects do occasionally cause us problems but in this case it was more risque than risky. "What we think happened in this case was the offending article was on the line for some time but it was the heavy rain yesterday – wet things conduct electricity – which led to the short circuit. "The main thing to say here is that if people do see something on the lines, don't try and get them down yourselves, that is when it becomes dangerous." Engineers have now restored power to the homes. Source
CARROLL, Iowa - Police had no trouble identifying two men accused of trying to break into a Carroll apartment. Police were responding to a call about an attempted burglary when they pulled over a car matching the alleged suspects' vehicle. Inside the car, officers found two men with their faces blackened with permanent marker. Police said the caller described two men with painted faces attempting to break into an apartment Friday night before driving off. Matthew McNelly, 23, and Joey Miller, 20, were arrested at gunpoint after officers were told they might be armed. Neither man had a weapon. McNelly and Miller were each charged with attempted second-degree burglary. Both men were released after posting bond. Source
Police raided the set of a film starring veteran Star Wars actor David Prowse after reports it was being used to shoot a porn movie. The Staffordshire bungalow location was instead found to house actors filming dialogue for The Kindness of Strangers. David Prowse, 74, who played Darth Vader in the original Star Wars films, is starring in the action thriller, reports Metro. Neighbors had jumped to the wrong conclusion after seeing a camera and lighting equipment being taken into the bungalow in Newhall. One film crew member, who did not want to be named, said: "It was hilarious to see a bunch of policemen enter the bungalow expecting to see a porn film carrying on. "When the officers saw two dressed actors talking, they looked quite disappointed. The curtain twitchers certainly have a vivid imagination." Source
The Web site for department store giant Sears offered a gruesome sales pitch Thursday — a grill that could "cook babies" and be used to roast body parts. The goof, first reported by TMZ.com, listed any grill viewed by visitors to the company's Web site under the category of "human cooking > Grills to Cook Babies and More > Body Part Roaster." The wording apparently was the work of a mischievous customer and, when discovered, was quickly changed, but not before TMZ.com captured a screengrab. Representatives from Sears said they were victimized by "someone visiting" the company's Web site. "We discovered earlier today that someone visiting our site had defaced a limited number of product pages," the company said in a written statement to FOXNews.com. "It’s important for our customers to know that we have no reason to believe that any of our customer or financial data were compromised. "We’ve already taken steps to prevent this from happening again. We sincerely apologize to any customers who may have seen this on our site." Source
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Nine women tricked into thinking they were reality TV show contestants and lured into an Istanbul villa were rescued by Turkish military police after two months confinement, a police spokesman said Thursday. Cameras in the villa filmed the women 24-hours a day, providing a live stream of images for Internet users who had paid to access the footage, the spokesman said. The women, all from Turkey, according to the Turkish press, had answered an advert seeking contestants for a "Big Brother"-style television show. They passed an audition and selection process before entering the house. "The women's parents called the police after they didn't hear anything from them. The military police went to investigate and heard the women screaming from inside," the spokesman said, adding the raid took place Monday. Police detained three men and prosecutors are investigating, he said. According to Turkish media, the women had signed a contract agreeing they would have no contact with their families and would face a fine of 50,000 Turkish lira if they left early. Source
