Woman ‘trapped in her own body’ has written a book using only her eyes

A young woman who was left paralysed from the neck down after suffering a severe stroke has written a book using only her eyes. Mia Austin, 29, was just 21 years old when a stroke left her trapped in her own body, unable to speak. She was diagnosed with ‘locked in syndrome’, a condition doctors describe as “the closest thing to being buried alive”. While she can see, hear, and think as normal, Austin cannot move from the neck down and has to be fed through a tube.
She can now only communicate through eye movement and a spelling chart - the method she used to pen her book, In the Blink of an Eye. In the book, which is due to launch on 27 April, Austin shares her experiences of life after the stroke. In her introduction, Austin writes: “I must have woken on the morning of November 16 2009, totally oblivious as to what was going to happen because I'd been to work, as usual, nothing different, followed by the gym where I did my normal workout.
“I went straight in to tell my mum how badly I’d done (at the gym) and she replied ‘There’s always tomorrow’...
“How ironic.
“Welcome to my story all about me. Now you can get into the head of a stroke victim.”After Austin suffered the stroke at her home in Wirral, doctors told her family to expect the worst. They didn’t believe Austin, who was put on a life support machine at Arrowe Park Hospital, Merseyside, would survive the night. However, as they were preparing to withdraw life support, Austin opened her eyes. Despite being completely immobile, doctors realised she could still see, hear and think as normal and she was diagnosed with ‘locked in syndrome’ a week later. This book available at all online bookstore in india.