Woman Regains Ability to Talk After 20 Years

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From http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19788-2005Feb12.html

Kansas. Woman Regains Ability to Talk After 20 Years

By Roxana Hegeman

Associated Press

Sunday, February 13, 2005; Page A10

HUTCHINSON, Kan., Feb. 12 -- For 20 years, Scantlin has been

mostly oblivious to the world around her -- the victim of a drunk

driver who struck her down as she walked to her car. Today, after a

remarkable recovery, she can talk again.

Scantlin's father knows she will never fully recover, but her

newfound ability to speak and her returning memories have given him

his daughter back. For years, she could only blink her eyes -- one

blink for " no, " two blinks for " yes " -- to respond to questions that

no one knew for sure she understood.

Scantlin, left, who had been unable to talk since she was hit

by a drunk driver 20 years ago, looks up at her mother, Betsy

Scantlin, during a reception at a health care center in Hutchinson,

Kan.

" I am astonished how primal communication is. It is a key element of

humanity, " Jim Scantlin said, blinking back tears.

Scantlin was an 18-year-old college freshman on Sept. 22, 1984,

when she was hit by a drunk driver as she walked to her car after

celebrating with friends at a teen club. That week, she had been

hired at an upscale clothing store and won a spot on the drill team

at Hutchinson Community College.

Scantlin still suffers constantly from the effects of the accident.

She habitually crosses her arms across her chest, her fists clenched

under her chin. Her legs constantly spasm and thrash. Her right foot

is so twisted it is almost reversed. Her neck muscles are so

constricted she cannot swallow to eat.

A week ago, her parents got a call from Trammell, a licensed

nurse at the Golden Plains Health Care Center. She asked Betsy

Scantlin if she was sitting down, told her someone wanted to talk to

her and switched the phone to speaker mode:

" Hi, Mom. "

" , is that you? " her mother asked.

" Yes, " came the throaty reply.

" How are you doing? "

" Fine. "

" Do you need anything? " her mother asked her later.

" More makeup. "

" Did she just say more makeup? " the mother asked the nurse.

Scantlin started talking in mid-January but asked staff members not

to tell her parents until Valentine's Day to surprise them, Trammell

said. But last week she could not wait any longer to talk to them.

The breakthrough came when the nursing home's activity director, Pat

Rincon, was working with Scantlin and a small group of other

patients, trying to get them to speak.

Rincon had her back to Scantlin while she worked with another

resident. She had just gotten that resident to reply " okay, " when she

suddenly heard behind her also repeat the words: " Okay. Okay. "

Staff members brought in a speech therapist and intensified their

work with . They did not want to get her parents' hopes up until

they were sure would not relapse, Trammell said.

Scantlin's doctor, Bradley Scheel, said physicians are not sure why

she suddenly began talking but believe critical pathways in the brain

may have regenerated.

" It is extremely unusual to see something like this happen, " Scheel said.

--

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