Not many books have been written in the same circumstances that author Jean-Dominique Bauby endured when he wrote “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly“. During his mid-forties, he slipped into a coma that lasted 20 days.

Then he woke up.

But take that with a grain of salt. His mind may have been conscious, but the rest of his body remained motionless. Nothing in his body functioned – except for his left eye. Being the type of man he was, Bauby soon began training this eye to communicate with the outside world, blinking in certain patterns to convey his thoughts a letter at a time. He then began reminiscing, describing his sorrows and loves in incredible detail, which an attendant documented down. These works eventually became “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly“. His words had the same charm as they did before the accident.

In case you’re not a big fan of books, you should definitely check out the 2007 film named after Bauby’s memoirs. |The trailer is posted below