Be honest, have you ever thought about how great it would be to do without sleep? Just imagine how much time would be freed up! After all, the average person sleeps about a third of their life!
But, as great as that looks, unfortunately, it just isn’t possible! Already in the second week of insomnia in the body begin irreversible negative changes that can lead to death.
However, we want to tell you about one of the few who have succeeded. There are people who do not sleep for 2 or even 3 years in a row. These are phenomena that are extremely rare. But our hero today has been awake for much longer.
Who is this? Sixteen years ago, a boy was born to a family named Lemb. His parents, Shannon and David, named him Rhett. Outwardly he was like all the other children: happy, crying, liked to play with his peers. But at night, unlike the others, he never slept at all.
To watch the baby, his mom and dad were on duty at his crib in shifts, even though they were exhausted from exhaustion.
Doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong and simply shook their hands, since they had never seen anything like this before.
Shenon said that the lack of sleep made her son irritable and unbearable, he refused to socialize with the other children and often provoked fights and quarrels.Diagnosis
Only 3 years after the birth of the unusual boy, doctors managed to figure out the cause of such a strange phenomenon.
He was diagnosed with a Chiari malformation. This is an extremely rare neurological disease. It consists in the fact that the cerebellum presses on the spinal cord, which causes unpleasant feelings and does not allow the child to sleep.
The way out
Specialists suggested an operation, but there was no certainty of a successful outcome. Nobody could guarantee that everything would go back to normal after the operation. The boy’s parents thought about it for about 3 years, but then, because of their son’s worsening condition, they gave their consent.
Fortunately, everything was successful. The surgeons were able to get rid of the root cause and Rhett fell asleep for the first time in years.
He now lives a very ordinary life and nothing reminds him of the hardships he had to face. The parents are also immensely happy and are very grateful to the doctors who were able to save their child.