Being in a coma is one of the most mysterious medical conditions in the world. Are you asleep? Are you aware of what’s going on around you? Can you actually hear when people are speaking to you?
A thread on Reddit asked former hospital patients who were in a coma to discuss what it was like. Here are some of the most notable responses.
Walking Down the Street
I was in a coma after car accident. I only remember one thing: I was walking down a street. I fell to my knees while coughing. I grabbed at my throat. I look down and saw my esophagus on the ground. I then fell onto my side. I learned later that was probably my vent tube coming out of throat.
A Long Dream
I remember it was a very long dream. First it was a nightmare, I was being chased by all these Chucky dolls with knives who were trying to murder me. Eventually though, the dream shifted and Jesus came to me. He explained that he would take me to heaven if I was ready. My parents were there and they were very sad that I was going to leave them and I remember thinking about it a lot and weighing all the options, but I finally decided I was going to go with Jesus. When I told Jesus I was ready he smiled at me and said “Sorry it’s not your time.” He then went up into the sky and disappeared into light. I was very upset because I was ready to go. Then I remember waking up and 3 months had passed.
The Brother
Years ago, my brother was in a coma for 2 months after a horrible car accident.
One night while my mom was in the room watching over him, she noticed his hand moved a little. When she got close, he woke up in shock, and desperately asked my mom, “Mom, where are the kids?! They helped so much where are they?! I couldn’t speak to them and say thank you! Where are they?!” I was the only kid that stepped into his room the whole 2 months.
After calming down, he told my mom that he saw himself from an aerial point of view laying on the hospital bed, in a tremendous white room. Beside him were two kids, one on each side of the bed. On the right was a little boy, that would always tell him, “Remain calm my boy… everything is going to be okay I promise. I’ve never left your side after all these years. You’ve grown into a fine young responsible man. I love you.”
On the left was this little girl, that would tell him stories about my brother’s best childhood moments to keep him entertained. He said he felt like the boy was our grandpa from my mother’s side, which is a man I personally didn’t have the honor to meet due to being a baby. My grandpa has the most profound love for us grandchildren and visited everyday to see us. He lived across town and had no car or bike. He also said the girl was probably his best friend, who was in the backseat during the accident and died due to not wearing a seatbelt.
I believe my brother was taken to a part of heaven, but it wasn’t his time so my grandpa and his best friend watched over him as he recovered enough to wake back up and join us. Everyone has their time to leave the earth, I’m glad it wasn’t my brothers time and he’s still with us.
Shutting Down
I was in a chemically induced coma for two weeks. My situation wasn’t normal. They didn’t know what was wrong with me other than that my lungs were totally full of fluid and that my brain was on the fast track to shutting down. They told my mother I was going to die and they couldn’t do anything about it. My blood oxygen saturation was something like 29% when I came in. They said over and over that I shouldn’t be alive. They kept telling me that. The nurses, the doctors, the girls in the ambulance. I remember fading away while staring at the freakishly bright lights in my face in the ER.
If others dreams were anything like mine, they won’t want to tell you about them. It’s not “dreams” so much as it is another reality. I remember meeting people that I’d never seen nor heard of, becoming really good friends with them, then watching one of the girls die in a horrific car wreck. Apparently I came to at some point and started asking, “The girl, is the girl ok?” It was the most vivid thing I’ve ever been a part of.
I remember there was a party where people were covered in animal shit. There was some really dark stuff that I really don’t want to talk about, much less write down. I have “forgotten” some of it I suppose. It was terrible for me. Some people’s experiences may be different, but mine was drug induced and I wouldn’t wish those dreams on anyone. I spent 14 days under. I was not aware of anything on the outside. It never occurred to me that I may have been dead or dying. I never once thought I was in bad shape. Hell, I WALKED into the hospital with less than 30% blood oxygen concentration. All this happened on Christmas eve night. I’m like 6 years past that now and I was told that the only lasting damage was some scar tissue on my lungs that may or may not go away with time.
The White Room
Before I entered a coma (fell from the second story of a gym under construction and landed on my head), I had watched The Grudge. So during the whole coma, I dreamed that I was trapped in a completely white room with the grudge girl. She never moved and just stood there, but when I woke up from that coma, I refused to close my eyes for a couple of nights from fear.
Morphine
I was in a medically induced coma for a week and a half courtesy of a car accident. My family was at my bedside the entire time. Whenever I would move they would calmly say to me that I had been in a bad car accident, I was ok, and I was in a hospital. In my dreams I was going about my daily business of college classes and coffeehouses, the twist would be that I was introducing myself as having been in a bad car accident but I was ok and in a hospital, or in class I dropped a pen because my arm hurt and the student in front of me says that of course my arm hurts because I was in a bad car accident and so on.
These morphine dreams varied and were many, from the surreal to the mundane, then I had the realization that if I’ve been in a bad car accident that I should go to the hospital. So, in my dreams I walk into the local college town’s hospital, politely check into triage saying hi, I’ve been in a bad car accident but I’m ok and I wanted to get checked out. That’s when the nurses and doctors descended upon me in a life-saving frenzy. After that I opened my eyes.
Dreams
I was in a near-fatal motorcycle accident. I was never really in a “coma” but I was out for a few days. Mainly because of trauma, surgery and drugs.
They were giving me large doses of dilaudid nonstop because of all my injuries and the pain I was in. I would hallucinate that I was walking out of the ICU and suddenly the walls would turn to stars. Then I would see people just doing weird stuff. I would start walking again and realize that I couldn’t walk (I was paralyzed) and I would feel like I was falling, but instead I was trying to get up in bed.
This happened all the time and felt like it lasted forever. It was kind of cool and sad at the same time. The “dreams” were incredible and made me feel good, but then I would feel sad because I would remember I was paralyzed. I would keep thinking I was getting up, but would end up just remember I was in bed and it was impossible.
Time Went Slowly
When I was considered medically “dead” I couldn’t hear anyone, I was in a huge white room with no walls, just a floor. The floor would occasionally sparkle far off. I could not move, I could just look around, it was completely empty. I could still feel emotions, I had a heavy feeling of being nervous/worried. It felt like I was sneaking into a place where I did not belong, like a part of the house that was off limits to me as a kid.
Time went by so slowly, I felt every second of it. It was only for 4ish minutes but it definitely felt that long. I could not think, I just felt. It was the most terrifying experience of my life. I felt helpless, everything was out of my control, I felt trapped. I don’t remember but when I was revived I screamed for minutes, I just screamed and cried.
10 Day Coma
I spent ten days in a medically induced coma following the birth of my youngest son. He will be three years old this September. When I woke up I remember being very upset about a conversation between two nurses that took place in my hospital room while I was sleeping. I’ve always wondered if that conversation really happened or if it was a dream/nightmare.
Elvis
Neighbors kid was in a bad accident and was in a medically-induced coma. The doctors said that he might be able to hear what they said so sound upbeat, talk to him, play his favorite music, sports, etc. He liked Elvis so they played his CDs almost non stop. When he finally awoke from the coma he thought he was Elvis. It took a long time for him to accept the truth. He had a very long recovering because of his traumatic brain injury. He now works as an Elvis impersonator. 100% the truth. Everyone thinks I’m making it up when I tell them.