The Diving Bell and the Butterfly(潛水鐘與蝴蝶)

    On December 8,1995, the well-respected editor of the French fashion magazine Elle, Jean-Dominique Bauby, suffered a stroke and slipped into a coma. Awaking twenty days later, much to his surprise he was almost completely paralyzed, except his left eyelid.

    Nevertheless, his self-aware mental faculties were still intact. How he wished that he could have hug his family again when they visited him on Father’s Day while all he could do was use his left eye to see them more clearly and regret. During the days he lay on the bed in the hospital, lots of normal but extraordinary things came to his mind, as of his mind had been a butterfly which was trapped in his useless body like a diving bell deep in the water. All of these were attributed to the rare condition known as locked-in syndrome.

    Enduring the physical therapy and receiving the mental supports from his family and friends, Bauby still decided to write his memoirs by blinking letter by letter, though. It took Bauby 200,000 blinks to finish the book. In spite of the physical impotence, he struggled until the last minute of his life, which not only moved people to tears but inspired us to believe that everyone can make a stone a flower, as long as we stick to it and find strength in the ashes.