Martin Pistorius went into a coma at the age of 12 and was unable to move, communicate, or do anything for himself for another 12 years. He says he actually began to wake up a couple of years after he fell ill, but he was trapped in his lifeless body.
When he started showing signs of improvement, his mother quit her job and worked with him for two years, teaching him to communicate using a computer. He later earned a degree, learned to drive, and got married.