Man Hurt in Crash Utters First Words in 19 Years

The last time Terry Wallis was conscious of the world around him, Ronald Reagan was president, Bill Clinton was the governor, the Soviet Union was the enemy and the World Trade Center still stood.

Thrown into a coma after an auto accident in 1984, he recently spoke his first words in 19 years: “Mom. Pepsi. Milk.”

Only in the last two weeks has the 39-year-old Wallis realized that Reagan no longer is president, answering “I don’t know” when asked who is in office now.

“He’s beginning to realize he’s in a different place now,” said his physician, Dr. James Zini. “We never thought he’d regain this kind of cognitive level.”

Wallis and a friend were in a car on July 13, 1984, when it ran off the road. Both men were found beneath a bridge the next day. The friend died; Wallis was left a quadriplegic and fell into a coma for three months.

He soon emerged partially from the coma. But for 18 years, he could communicate only by blinking his eyes or grunting.

Then, on June 13, he called out “Mom” to his mother and later asked for a Pepsi. While home from the hospital for a weekend, he said he wanted milk with his breakfast. Since then, he has steadily increased his vocabulary, and he is considered fully emerged from his stupor.

A speech therapist is working with Wallis three days a week, and his doctor wants to give him more intensive physical therapy now that he can better comply with instructions. Nurses have been told to ask Wallis open-ended questions to help him develop answers beyond just “yes” and “no.”