Zzzzzz
Sleep has always been a but of a mystery... Take this case:
Sweden, 1876.
Fourteen-year-old Swedish schoolgirl, Carolina Olsson, was on her way home to the family cottage at Okno, near Monsteras, in February 1876, when she slipped on the ice and fell, hitting her head. By the time she got home she had a nasty headache and a couple of days later started to complain about tiredness. Her mother put her to bed.
On the evening of 22 February, 1876, Carolina fell asleep. She slept soundly until 3 April, 1908.
For the first couple of days and nights, Carolina's parents debated about calling the doctor. Her father was a fisherman, far from rich, and wasn't sure he could afford the fee. They fed her milk and sugared water and hoped she would eventually wake up. When she didn't, they finally called a doctor. He examined her, stuck needles into her fingers to test for a reaction, then pronounced his diagnosis. The girl, he said, was in a deep sleep.
This was the first of many unhelpful medical opnions. Word of Carolina's condition went the rounds and more and more doctors took an interest. Many had their own ideas about her condition. They said she was supposed to be suffering from paralysis or faking. But no one had any idea how to wake her up.
In desperation, he parents brought her to Oskarshamm Hospital where the doctors tried to wake her by giving her electric shocks. When that didn't work, they sent her home. Her condition, they said, was incurable.
One night, her father came in from work to discover Carolina kneeling by the sofa where she slept, praying to Jesus. He was overjoyed until he realised she was not awake, but sleepwalking. When she finished her prayers, she climbed back into bed.
The family kept feeding her milk and sugared water. Carolina kept sleeping. When her mother died in 1908, a widowed neighbour came in to help with the housekeeping.
On 3 April, 1908, thirty-two years and forty-two days after she dozed off, Caroline eventually awoke. The housekeeper found her wandering about the cottage looking for her mother.
It was a painful awakening. Not only was her mother gone, but two of her brothers were also dead, the result of a drowning accident. She could not believe that her father was now old and her remaining brothers middle-aged. She remembered them as they had been more than thirty years before.
Oddly enough, while her family had aged, Carolina hadn't - or at least not at anything like the same rate. Her body still looked like that of a fourteen-year-old and while her face seemed a little older, nobody would have taken her for anything older than her middle twenties, although she was in fact forty-six.
Not surprisingly, Carolina found herself famous. The newspapers dubbed her Sleeping Beauty (she was a very pretty girl) and tourists turned up by the coachload just to catch a glimpse of her.
She was a little weak and dizzy immediately after wakening, but demanded a meal of herring and quickly recovered.
Some two years after her ordeal she was examined by a doctor from Stockholm. He found her intelligent and cheerful, healthy and co-operative. She still looked far younger than her actual age and had a clear memory of her life before she fell asleep.
Her life after she woke up again proved long and happy. She survived a further forty-two years and died, aged 89, in April, 1950.
"Zzzzzz", in BRENNAN, Herbie, Seriously Weird True Stories, Cox and Wyman Ltd, Reading, Berks, 1997, pp. 35-38.
Sweden, 1876.
Fourteen-year-old Swedish schoolgirl, Carolina Olsson, was on her way home to the family cottage at Okno, near Monsteras, in February 1876, when she slipped on the ice and fell, hitting her head. By the time she got home she had a nasty headache and a couple of days later started to complain about tiredness. Her mother put her to bed.
On the evening of 22 February, 1876, Carolina fell asleep. She slept soundly until 3 April, 1908.
For the first couple of days and nights, Carolina's parents debated about calling the doctor. Her father was a fisherman, far from rich, and wasn't sure he could afford the fee. They fed her milk and sugared water and hoped she would eventually wake up. When she didn't, they finally called a doctor. He examined her, stuck needles into her fingers to test for a reaction, then pronounced his diagnosis. The girl, he said, was in a deep sleep.
This was the first of many unhelpful medical opnions. Word of Carolina's condition went the rounds and more and more doctors took an interest. Many had their own ideas about her condition. They said she was supposed to be suffering from paralysis or faking. But no one had any idea how to wake her up.
In desperation, he parents brought her to Oskarshamm Hospital where the doctors tried to wake her by giving her electric shocks. When that didn't work, they sent her home. Her condition, they said, was incurable.
One night, her father came in from work to discover Carolina kneeling by the sofa where she slept, praying to Jesus. He was overjoyed until he realised she was not awake, but sleepwalking. When she finished her prayers, she climbed back into bed.
The family kept feeding her milk and sugared water. Carolina kept sleeping. When her mother died in 1908, a widowed neighbour came in to help with the housekeeping.
On 3 April, 1908, thirty-two years and forty-two days after she dozed off, Caroline eventually awoke. The housekeeper found her wandering about the cottage looking for her mother.
It was a painful awakening. Not only was her mother gone, but two of her brothers were also dead, the result of a drowning accident. She could not believe that her father was now old and her remaining brothers middle-aged. She remembered them as they had been more than thirty years before.
Oddly enough, while her family had aged, Carolina hadn't - or at least not at anything like the same rate. Her body still looked like that of a fourteen-year-old and while her face seemed a little older, nobody would have taken her for anything older than her middle twenties, although she was in fact forty-six.
Not surprisingly, Carolina found herself famous. The newspapers dubbed her Sleeping Beauty (she was a very pretty girl) and tourists turned up by the coachload just to catch a glimpse of her.
She was a little weak and dizzy immediately after wakening, but demanded a meal of herring and quickly recovered.
Some two years after her ordeal she was examined by a doctor from Stockholm. He found her intelligent and cheerful, healthy and co-operative. She still looked far younger than her actual age and had a clear memory of her life before she fell asleep.
Her life after she woke up again proved long and happy. She survived a further forty-two years and died, aged 89, in April, 1950.
"Zzzzzz", in BRENNAN, Herbie, Seriously Weird True Stories, Cox and Wyman Ltd, Reading, Berks, 1997, pp. 35-38.