Half of Only the Eyes Say Yes (362.19683 VIG) is written by Stephane Vigand and half is written by her husband Philippe. That in itself is not that unusual. What is unique is how the book was initially written. You see, Philippe has no control of his body -except his eyes and sometimes (with great effort) he might be able to move a finger just a little. The doctors explained that one of his two vertebral nerves had erupted, causing the condition called Locked-in syndrome.
Philippe, a publishing executive, was walking to work one day in July, 1990, when he heard a loud noise and collapsed on the ground. For the next few months, he was in a coma. When he woke up, he was completely paralyzed. What the doctors and his family didn't realize was that he could hear everything around him. His mental capabilities were the same as before the incident. It wasn't until a speech therapist noticed that his eyes reacted to conversation. A crude board with the alphabet was designed. With a little patience, his wife Stephane was able to watch where his eyes fell on the sheet while he was spelling out words.
A special computer was designed that could register his eye movements, save the text, and print it. That's how he wrote his section of the book.
This story is very touching, written from two perspectives. The love they have for each other is quite obvious.
c Waterloo Public Library 2008
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