Technology News
- 14 June 2012, 17:21
Locked-in syndrome patient tweets
A locked-in syndrome patient has been captured on film tweeting for the first time.
Tony Nicklinson, who seven years ago had a major stroke that left his body completely paralysed, used special eye movement technology to access the social networking site.
He wrote the message: "Hello world. I am tony nicklinson, I have locked-in syndrome and this is my first ever tweet. #tony."
After being on the website for less than 24 hours, he had almost 2,500 followers.
Mr Nicklinson, 57, can only communicate by using a computer that follows his eye movements. Software converts his eye movement into the letters of the alphabet and in turn into words and speech.
Channel 4's Dispatches captured the moment ahead of a programme about Mr Nicklinson's life which airs on Monday at 8pm.
On Monday, Mr Nicklinson and his family, who live in Melksham, Wiltshire, will go to the High Court to argue that a doctor should be allowed lawfully to end his life.
Mr Nicklinson sums up his life as "dull, miserable, demeaning, undignified and intolerable".
In the proceedings, Mr Nicklinson, who suffered a stroke in 2005 while on a business trip to Athens, is asking the High Court to grant declarations that a doctor could intervene to end his "indignity", with his consent and with him making the decision with full mental capacity, and have a "common law defence of necessity" against any murder charge.
Before the stroke Mr Nicklinson, who has two grown-up daughters, was a "very active and outgoing man".
Tracey Walker
8:30am on 15/6/2012
This is terrible . Mr Nicklinson should be allowed to decide his own fate. Not long ago he would have almost certainly died of natural causes .Is it the advances in medical science that are prolonging his misery . My 87 yrs old mother who is capable(ish) tells us how little point there is to her life but at least she can tell us
LaborneRacing
4:00pm on 20/6/2012
I can see the point of RTD, but then I have the thoughts of what if something changes? He has fascinated the world today at how open the internet it, and things like twitter, to millions of people, showing disability isn't a reason for saying "I can't", even if it is just tweeting. One of his tweets says how proud he is of his daughters. They will never hear him say that again, because he would have chosen not to say it. I also know someone who wanted their own RTD. A couple of years later they came back to me and said they were so glad they couldn't end it.