Martin Pistorius

Martin Pistorius (born 31 December 1975) is a South African man who developed an undiagnosed neurological disorder and was unable to communicate for 7 years. When he was 12, he began losing voluntary motor control and eventually fell into a vegetative state for three years. He began regaining consciousness at around age 16 and achieved full consciousness by age 19, although he was still unable to control his body’s movements with the exception of his eyes. He was unable to communicate with other people until his caregiver, Virna van der Walt, noticed that he could use his eyes to respond to her words. She told his parents, who sent him to the centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication at the University of Pretoria for testing, where they confirmed that he was conscious and aware of his surroundings. His parents then gave him a speech computer, and he began slowly regaining some upper body functions. In 2008, he met his wife Joanna through his sister Kim, and in 2009 they married. He co-wrote his autobiography Ghost Boy with Megan Lloyd Davies, which was published in 2011. By that time, Pistorius had regained limited control over his head and arms, but still needed his speech computer to communicate with others. In 2018, it was announced that the couple were expecting a child, and Pistorius was wheelchair racing. As of 2018, Pistorius works as a freelance web designer and developer.