As you know, one of my all-time favorite podcasts is “Two Girls One Ghost.” It’s so well done and interesting that it keeps me on the edge of my seat every show! Well, Corinne of TGOG is part of a new podcast that I will be diving into soon because it is also full of intrigue. She teamed up with a man named Jake Haendel. His story is a remarkable tale of survival and recovery from a rare and devastating medical condition.
The new podcast is called “Blink.”
In May 2017, at the age of 28, Jake Haendel was rushed to a Massachusetts emergency room with what initially appeared to be stroke-like symptoms. After further examination, he was diagnosed with acute toxic progressive leukoencephalopathy (ATL), a rare and often fatal brain disease caused by exposure to toxic substances. Doctors attributed his condition to past substance abuse.
His doctors accurately predicted the progression of his disease:
- Within the first month, he lost his ability to walk.
- By the second month, he was confined to a wheelchair.
- In the third month, he became bedridden and lost the ability to eat, swallow, and talk.
- By the fourth month, he appeared to slip into a coma-like state.
The Locked-In State
What appeared to be a coma was actually a condition called locked-in syndrome. For 10 months, Haendel was fully conscious and aware of his surroundings but completely paralyzed, unable to move or communicate. He could hear and understand everything happening around him, but he couldn’t respond in any way.
Haendel described this experience as “the worst you can imagine” and likened it to being a prisoner in solitary confinement. He overheard conversations about his condition, including a moment when he learned that doctors believed he was brain dead.
The Turning Point
In June 2018, nearly a year after his initial diagnosis, a doctor noticed a slight movement in Haendel’s body. This led to further investigation and the realization that Haendel was actually conscious and aware. A specialist in nonverbal augmented speech therapy was brought in to work with him.
Haendel’s recovery was a slow and arduous process:
- He first learned to communicate by blinking and moving his tongue.
- He progressed to using a letter board to form sentences.
- By 2019, he began making sounds and forming words.
- In 2020, he started talking in sentences and was able to get out of bed and into a wheelchair.
His recovery continued at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, where he relearned basic skills like putting on shoes and buttoning shirts.
The Blink Podcast
Well. Now that you know the medical piece of this, imagine being in a coma and listening to the confessions of people for years who didn’t know you could hear them. And therein lies the premise of the new podcast.
The podcast features a team of experienced creators:
- Jake Haendel: The story’s subject and a key participant in the podcast.
- Corinne Vien: Co-host of the podcast, known for her work on “Two Girls One Ghost”.
- Michael Marguet: Composer for the podcast, creating original scores for each episode.
As a huge fan of Corinne, I’d just like to say that she plays a crucial role in bringing Jake Haendel’s extraordinary story to life in the Blink podcast, making it engaging and accessible to a wide audience. She is a talented storyteller and an impeccable researcher.
A teaser snippet
If you decide to listen you’ll have to let me know what you think!
