The student fainted, overwhelmed by the exam, and still has not regained consciousness
Masha (in the middle) always stood out among her peers, she was not interested in discos or boys - the girl devoted herself to her studies
The story that happened in Kuibyshev could be compared to the story of a sleeping beauty. Only in contrast to the fairy tale, the sleeping girl has not yet awakened. But nine years have passed already …
Friends last saw the girl when she was finishing her fourth year at the Pedagogical Institute. Now her classmates are already grown-up uncles and aunts, who have long since changed classrooms to office desks and started families. And Masha Roshalova (surname has been changed for ethical reasons - editorial note) is remembered practically as a child.
- She was like a "gray mouse" from school. Small, silent, - recalls classmate Marina Makarova. - I didn't communicate with almost anyone. But no one offended her, because Masha herself was very harmless.
You don't need to be a psychic to guess the character of this girl from her appearance. In the photo, where Masha is almost a school graduate, she looks like a child. You can't even say that the tall girls nearby are her age. And the facial features of the harmless "gray mouse" are quite childish.
She came to Kuibyshev's school already in the tenth grade - her father was a military man, so the family had to "wander" from one region of Russia to another. If the classmates treated Masha simply favorably, then the teachers were delighted with her. She studied without grades, and approached each assignment responsibly, roughly as students defend their thesis.
Then she studied at the Pedagogical Institute. Classmates say that all disciplines were good enough for Masha, and she entered “mathematics”, most likely, by a random, unmotivated choice.
Friends do not remember that this student appeared in midnight cafes or clubs. She was not fond of belly dancing, fitness, or even beading.
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The only cultural institution that Masha eagerly visited was the library. She loved books. However, also without "fanaticism".
But what Maria definitely could not take calmly was the exams. Although she was always perfectly prepared, she was madly worried every time. At the fourth year session, I had to pass physics. The girl coped with the tasks, flawlessly as always, but after the exam … she disappeared.
“Then they just told us at the institute that Masha was ill, that, most likely, she would not finish her studies with our group, but maybe only with the students of the next year,” recalls her friend Olga Batluk.
It turned out that after the exam Maria Roshalova came home and … "fell asleep."
What happened to the girl is officially called “vegetative status”. This means that a large area of the cerebral cortex, in which the processing and comprehension of the incoming information should take place, has been "turned off". A person is neither conscious nor in a coma.
At the institute, Maria was issued on academic leave. Friends, neighbors gradually stopped asking about the girl, and now many in the town no longer remember the existence of an inconspicuous girl.
… Masha's mother is a physician herself, for more than 10 years the woman has been working as a district doctor and helps local residents of a small town to cope with ailments. Perhaps the only person she cannot help is her own daughter …
“They are called“vegetables,”Tatiana Roshalova says resignedly. - But I know that this is not so, that she hears everything, understands … So much water has already flowed under the bridge, where we just did not apply. But medicine is powerless here. She herself must wake up, the body must fight …
For mom, Masha is the most beloved home flower that requires certain care and feeding. Parents flatly refuse to put the "sleeping beauty" in the hospital.
Locals no longer remember that a student has been sleeping in this house for many years.
- Yes, there are special clinics, for example, in Israel, - the woman admits that she studied all kinds of medical articles on this topic, knows about the experience of foreign doctors. - But how will she lie there without me? Who, if not me, knows how to feed her and how to feed her, what she loves, what does not. If relatives are able to care for such patients, then they should do it. So there is a greater chance that Masha will wake up.
Maria's father is more reserved, a retired former military major, says only one thing:
- How can you help us? Nothing already, probably. Do not think that we have dropped our hands. We hope, of course, - the man's voice grows even quieter. - What else remains for us?..
On the questions of "Komsomolskaya Pravda" doctors also do not say anything comforting. The most optimistic forecast begins approximately with the words "if a miracle happens …". But sometimes miracles do happen. Suddenly, some doctor, having read this material, will call the editorial office and say that the girl can be woken up …
Kuibyshev. Novosibirsk region
But there was a case
In Saransk, a girl fell asleep after her birthday
A similar story about the "sleeping beauty" happened in Saransk. In the same 2001, also during exams, and also with a girl named Masha. The student fell asleep on the second day after her 18th birthday. On the day this happened, Maria had to take another exam at the institute …
Like a student in Kuibyshev, a resident of Saransk is still sleeping. How long this dream will last, no one knows. Relatives and friends every year hope for a miracle, and doctors for the ninth year shrug their shoulders …
By the way
American woke up from sleep for three days
Doctors aloud say that there is no way out of the state of vegetative sleep as such. However, at least two cases are known in the world when "sleeping people" with such a diagnosis woke up. One of them happened in America three years ago. Then, sleeping for more than six years, Christa Lilly came to her senses. The woman fell into a vegetative state after suffering a heart attack and stroke. The sleeping American woke up on March 4, 2007. Despite the fact that the woman received food through a tube inserted into the esophagus for several years, she was able to eat on her own without any problems and even ate a cake prepared by her relatives. Moreover, the American gave an interview to local journalists, in which she said that she was surprised to see her daughter at the age of 12, because she remembered her as a baby. Literally after conversations with reporters, Lilly again passed out. Christa's attending physician - Randall Bjork just throws up his hands: "I don't understand how she could wake up, but it's even bigger mystery to me how she could fall asleep again …".
Terry Wallis's story is more optimistic. At the age of 19, the guy got into a car accident, received serious brain damage and fell asleep for 19 years! And after so many years in a vegetative state, Terry completely came to his senses and spoke. Further research shocked the scientists: Terry's damaged brain was able to grow new structures to replace the dead. This is how the guy came to his senses …
Help "KP"
The vegetative state is one of the most mysterious medical diagnoses of our time. It presupposes the functioning of an organism capable of its growth and development, but completely excludes intellectual activity and social interaction. The patient in this state reacts to stimuli only reflexively. He can make small involuntary movements, for example, move his eyelids or a finger, and even make inarticulate sounds. But there are no signs of awareness and communication. Characterizing this condition, Academician Vladimir Negovsky notes that "despite irreversible damage to the higher parts of the brain, irreversible impairment or loss of consciousness, the patient is a living being with all the ensuing consequences concerning his rights and duties of the doctors treating him."