Niamh Shackleton
A man who had locked-in syndrome recalled the heartbreaking conversations he heard his wife having with the doctors while he was in hospital.
In 2009, Richard Marsh suffered a life-changing stroke and developed locked-in syndrome shortly after.
Locked-in syndrome (LiS) is described as 'a rare and serious neurological disorder that happens when a part of your brainstem is damaged, usually from a stroke', as per the Cleveland Clinic.
Those with LiS are totally paralyzed but still have normal cognitive abilities.
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With this in mind, Richard could hear everything his wife was being told by medical professionals when he fell unwell.
According to them, Richard - who is thought to have been in his late 50s at the time - only had a two percent chance of survival and they suggested turning his life support machine off.
Recalling the moment he woke up in intensive care, Richard told The Guardian: "All I could do when I woke up in ICU was blink my eyes.
"I was on life support with a breathing machine, with tubes and wires on every part of my body, and a breathing tube down my throat. I was in a severe locked in-state for some time. Things looked pretty dire."
Discussing the harrowing conversation between his wife, Lili, and his doctors, Richard went on: "The doctors had just finished telling Lili that I had a two percent chance of survival and if I should survive I would be a vegetable.
"I could hear the conversation and in my mind I was screaming 'No!'"
Fortunately a doctor went on to discover that he was able to communicate through blinking and the plans to turn off his machine were scrapped.
Three days after his devastating stroke, a doctor peered down at Richard and said: "You know, I think he might still be there. Let's see."
Fast forward another four months and Richard completely defied the odds and walked out of his long-term care facility.
By 2012, he recovered 95 percent functionality and was largely living a completely normal life again.
While Richard was one of the lucky ones, not everyone who develops locked-in syndrome regain their physical functionality.
This hasn't stopped Howard Wicks, however.
Howard is a 29-year-old from Dartmouth, UK, and he suffered a stroke in 2011. The incident left him totally paralyzed and he's only able to move his eyes.
Despite his debilitating condition, Howard has recently penned a book using an eye-driven communication device. The book is 50,000 pages long and it took Howard 18 months to complete.
The novel, titled Hope: Facing the Depths of Adversity: A Life with Locked-In Syndrome, recounts the first four years of his life after suffering a stroke.