Brain-Injured Arkansas Man Speaks for First Time in 19 Years

By Liz Townsend

An Arkansas man regained full consciousness and spoke for the first time since a 1984 car crash left him in a coma-like state. Terry Wallis, now 39, said his first words in 19 years on June 12 - -"Mom," "Pepsi," and "milk."

"There's really no words to describe it," Wallis's mother Angilee told KETV. "We've waited for 19 years. We, we are all just so happy. Just wonderful."

The car carrying Wallis and a friend left the road and crashed into a creek July 13, 1984, killing the friend and leaving Wallis severely brain injured and a quadriplegic, according to the Associated Press (AP). Wallis remained in a deep coma for three months, but then began to occasionally interact with his environment by blinking or making sounds, the AP reported.

The day after his first small words, Wallis began talking more and more, and has continued to improve, according to the AP. He has been able to speak to his 19-year-old daughter Amber, who was only six weeks old at the time of the car crash, and says he wants to try to walk for her, KARK-TV reported.

His family never gave up, continuing to visit Wallis regularly and bringing him home often for visits. His wife Sandi stayed married to him all these years, praying that he would come back to her. "He's my husband, I married him for better or worse, thick or thin, 'til death do us part,'" Sandi Wallis told KARK-TV. "There was just no way I could give up hope on him, I wanted so bad to communicate with him."

Willis resides in the Stone County Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Mountain View, Arkansas. Doctors there speculated that Wallis was able to fully recover because of the tremendous, constant care given him by his family and medical staff.

"The real unsung heroes are those nurses aides and nurses who have treated him all this time and taken care of him and included him in all of their activities," Dr. James Zini, director of rehabilitation center, told CNN. "And I think that and his family is who he's responded to so well."

Zini added that Wallis remained physically healthy over the 19 years despite the brain injury, suffering only a few bouts of pneumonia and infection. "It was the trauma to his body that caused him to be this way," Dr. Zini said. "So, you know, we treated him as if he were healthy otherwise."