‘Cultivating hope: my life with locked-in syndrome’

A man with locked-in syndrome has spoken of his desire to inspire others through his experience of living with the condition.

Howard Wicks, who suffered a debilitating stroke as a teenager, has just completed the first in a planned series of books on his life with locked-in syndrome.

The 29-year-old from Devon runs a charity to help people in a locked in state “embrace their fullest potential”.

Challenges

Mr Wicks told the BBC it took him about 18 months to write just over 50,000 words using technology that detects the “glint in your eye”.

He added: “Throughout that time I barely stopped because I couldn’t enjoy myself until it was complete. Now, at last, I can enjoy life again”.

I love cultivating hope, happiness and joy and showing children how I embody these qualities

The account, he explained, “introduces the reader to my life before the stroke” and “concludes with my transition from the hospital setting to community life”.

Reflecting on his work with young people, the charity founder said: “I love cultivating hope, happiness and joy and showing children how I embody these qualities, despite how I am.”

Activists

Locked-in syndrome leaves people with fully functioning minds but with little or no ability to communicate.

The condition is frequently used by activists who want to remove the current protections against assisted suicide in the UK.

Last month, at a meeting organised by pro-assisted suicide group My Death, My Decision and Humanists UK,  the public were urged to back assisted suicide “for not just the terminally ill”, but also for those with ‘incurable’ conditions such as locked-in syndrome.