After an accident in 1984, Terry Wallis was considered by his care team to be in a state of permanent unconsciousness, until 2003—when he said “Mom” and then “Pepsi,” his favorite drink. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Terry’s awakening set off a “golden age” of brain science, profoundly changing the scientific, moral, ethical, and legal understandings of consciousness. Although Terry was exceptional—he became a brain injury rock star—his death last year was all too ordinary and, arguably, avoidable: a consequence of therapeutic nihilism about severe brain injury, widespread discrimination against people with disabilities, and inadequate rehabilitation facilities in the rural area where he lived.Read More