Week 8

The story of the disembodied lady was probably one of the most intriguing and incredible stories I have ever heard. One might even say it is nightmare fuel. I even closed my eyes and tried to imagine what it must feel like to be “disembodied”, but I hardly grasp the feeling. Or rather the non-feeling. The concept itself feels like it is defying the nature of life itself, and hopefully one day someone will figure out exactly how and why this happened. If it is the result of a mental illness it is so strange that it would affect the body so severely.

It turns out there is a possible answer. I have been looking online and I found a story about a man who faced a similar problem, and he was referred to as Ian Waterman or IW. According to the article, IW lost his sense of proprioception after being sick with an undiagnosed fever. He woke up unable to control or feel his body, just as Christina had experienced. This fever was believed to have set off an auto-immune reaction and caused some type of neuronopathy, which is a disease or dysfunction of the peripheral nerves.

Like Christina, Ian Waterman learned to move his body with the help of his sight but collapses in a helpless heap once he cannot see what he is doing. Still, living and breathing while being unable to control your body, and feeling that your body is “dead”, truly sounds like a fate worse than death.

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