A paralyzed Swedish man suffered anyone’s worst nightmare. While unable to move or express himself verbally, he heard doctors speak to his family and girlfriend about donating his organs.
According to The New York Daily News John Fritze, 43, suffered a stroke while out to dinner with his girlfriend. It took over an hour to get him a hospital and by the time he arrived, he arrived, he was nearly completely paralyzed, save his eyes and ears.
“Only my eyes and ears were working,” Fritze said. “[The doctors] told my girlfriend that there was no hope.”
After the prognosis of the medical team tending to him, Fritze’s family came to say goodbye to him, believing that they were completely out of luck, however, this was not the case.
According to The Daily Mail, three days after Fritze was admitted to the hospital, another doctor returned from vacation, looked at his charts, and realized the situation wasn’t as grim as the doctors who first treated the stroke victim to believed.
“She looked at my scans and said, ‘This doesn't look too bad,’ and told the staff to give me cortisone to bring down the swelling in my brain,” Fritze said.
After a few weeks, Fritze was able to relate all he was aware of to his family and after two years, he has made a nearly full recovery.
While doctors believed he wouldn’t be able to recover from his stroke, Fritze has done just that, though he is currently wheelchair bound.
He has also filed an official complaint against Gothenburg's Sahlgrenska Hospital for writing him off so quickly.