The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Jean-Dominique Bauby was just 43 years old when he suffered a massive stroke. At the time, he was a magazine editor. While the stroke spared Bauby's life and mind, it left him paralyzed. Self-described as "like a mind in a jar," Bauby was unable to move or speak. His only means of communication was his ability to blink his left eyelid. Before this condition claimed his life, Bauby painfully put his experiences and wisdom into the books, The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, by correlating eye-blinking patterns and the French alphabet for transcription.

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