UCI Health neurosciences team sees a spark others miss to revive man in coma
April 13, 2015
IN THE NEWS: Last summer, 48-year-old Marc Kaiser descended into a persistent vegetative state, while being treated at a community hospital. He was intubated, with a flatline brain EEG and no response to stimuli. The Costa Mesa resident had been to several hospitals and nursing facilities, where the prognosis for recovery was bleak. His wife and young triplet sons were told to prepare for the worst.
A UC Irvine neurologist responded to Marc’s wife’s pleas and agreed to review the case. Dr. Leonid Groysman detected a spark, and arranged for Marc to be transferred to UC Irvine Medical Center. Over the next three months, Groysman and the neurosciences team brought him out of the vegetative state. By November, he was able to go to a rehabilitation facility to regain his speech and strengthen his atrophied body.
Marc can now speak, hold his kids and walk, with some assistance. The family returned to the medical center on April 10 to see the team that gave him his life back.
A news crew from Los Angeles television station ABC7 was there to capture the reunion. Although Marc still has a long road ahead, he and his family believe that their strong faith, along with the widespread support they continue to receive from their church, will help sustain them.
Watch the KABC7 Eyewitness News story here