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Doctors in Belgium are to re-examine dozens of coma patients following the case of Rom Houben. Mr Houben lay imprisoned in his own body for over two decades before doctors in the department  of Neurology at Liege University hospital discovered through a PET scan that he was conscious and had an ”almost normal” level of brain activity.

According to the Guardian, Mr Houben was believed to be in a vegetative state following a car crash which occurred in 1983 and doctors told his family that he could hear and feel nothing. Now Mr Houben is able to communicate following physiotherapy on his finger, using a touch screen attached to his wheelchair. This does appear to be the limit of his recovery but his mother, Mrs Fina Houben, having already campaigned for 26 years to get her son’s consciousness recognised, refuses to concede that this is it, stating “We continue to search and search”.

Mr Houben’s case is exceptionally rare and there is apparently great difficulty in distinguishing using current technology between minimal levels of consciousness and a vegetative state. Indeed, it was only because of Mr Houben’s level of brain activity that his condition was discovered.
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Justice Secretary Jack Straw has called for an increase to the maximum sentence for dangerous driving. Currently the offence carries a maximum sentence of two years imprisonment but under Mr Straw’s proposals that could increase to five.

According to the BBC, the proposals follow a campaign by the parents of toddler Cerys Edwards. Cerys was aged just 11 months when she was struck down by a car travelling more than 70 mph in a 30 mph zone. The driver was sentenced to two years for his crime but served just six months.
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The super Swedish furniture company Ikea has announced it is recalling a children’s high chair following reports that the chair is a potential danger to children using it, Sky News has reported (source).

According to the report, the locks securing the seat on the “Leopard Chair” can give way, leading to a child falling through frame. It is believed that so far one child has already become a victim of the seat, sustaining bruises to legs after falling through the frame. There are also fears children could choke on the detached locks.

The issue caught the attention of Ikea following 11 reports of the defective snap locks, including the incident above of the child that was injured, and a second incident whereby a detached snap lock was found in a child’s mouth, but was lucky retracted before any damage was done – so the fears are real!
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The Government is to give £20 million to victims of thalidomide and will apologise for their suffering.

According to Sky news, the Department of Health intends on paying the money to the Thalidomide Trust over a period of three years.

Thalidomide is a drug that was provided to pregnant women in the 1950s and 60s as a treatment for morning sickness or insomnia. Unfortunately the drug was found to have disastrous side effects, including limb malformation and defects. There are 463 surviving victims of the drug in the UK and the money will provide much needed financial security for thalidomide victims. The money will go towards providing victims with the adaptations that they require in their everyday lives, be these wheelchairs or car adaptations or even alterations to houses.
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Well we are still in the midst of the snow storm that’s hit the UK causing havoc for travellers and commuters, as well as hitting utility services with power outs in the worst hit areas. And there’s one story that’s been standing out since Friday and over the weekend.

According to BBC reports (source) and a healthy plastering of the story on the telly, more than 2000 people were trapped inside the channel tunnel for hours as five trains broke down due to the freezing cold causing electrical malfunctions. Some passengers were stuck on trains in sidings at Folkston for more than seven hours, and one commuter’s 2 hour 20 minute journey from Paris turned in to 16 hours of hell!

The lack of organisation amongst the Eurostar staff has been heavily criticised as passengers stuck for hours in the tunnel were exhausted, hungry, without adequate toilet facilities, and cold whilst transfers were arranged for passengers to be evacuated from the broken down trains. According to a TV interview with some passengers that were caught up in the breakdowns, they were “treated like animals” with many staff appearing not even to speak English.
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It seems buses aren’t having a great deal of luck at the moment, following on from my recent article about the bus that went a “bridge too far”; ripping the roof off due to a low bridge. The Mirror has reported of another incident involving a double decker bus in London! (source).

Passengers had to be cut free by the fire service after they became trapped in an overturned bus following a collision with a lorry. The driver of the bus as well as four other people were seriously hurt in the incident which occurred earlier this week during the 8:30am rush hour traffic. Three passengers had to be cut free by emergency services, and a further 13 people required hospital treatment.

A full investigation will be launched by Transport for London, with police enquires ongoing following the arrest of the male lorry driver whom is believed to remain in police custody. The London Ambulance service is said to have taken a 27 year old female and a 30 year old male to St George’s Hospital as a “priority”, and another 30 year old male also being treated as a “priority” was taken to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.
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More weather warnings have hit the headlines as heavy snow forecasts are predicted across the UK, with areas in southeast England to be affected the worst, according to the BBC (source).

The Met Office has issued early warnings, with predictions that travel networks will be affected tomorrow (Friday). According to the report, forecasts are predicating up to 20cm of snow in areas in Kent, Sussex, Surrey, London, and East Anglia – complete with gale force winds to cause drifts. As lovely and festive as the snow may be with just one week to go until Santa hits the skies, it’s a time where we are all going to have to be very careful out on the roads!

So what can we do to make sure we stay safe on the snow showered roads, and prevent any accidents form occurring?
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Doctors are used to scrubbing up before surgery, but at Alder Hey children’s hospital in Liverpool they are being asked to scrub the wards as well!

Both medical staff and managers were asked to pitch in before a visit from the Care Quality Commission (or CQC). According to the BBC, the commission had previously criticised hygiene standards at the hospital when they visited in April of this year.

The hospital trust have stated that participation was on a voluntary basis however, Dr Jaswinder Bamrah of the British Medical Association has criticised the move as “not right” and many doctors felt under pressure to comply according to the trade union, Unison.
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An 18 year old girl has tragically lost her life in a Go Karting accident, according to reports from Sky news (source) and the Mirror (source). 

It is believed that Susan Cornwall’s scarf came loose and got wrapped up the engine of the kart as she raced on the Cambridgeshire Raceway circuit in Caxton. The pull of the scarf is sadly believed to have choked her, with paramedics noting severe neck injuries as they attended her unconscious at the scene.

Cambridgeshire Raceway company secretary Phil Meakins has reportedly informed the Daily Mail that a track marshal had allowed Susan and a group of teenagers to use the circuit after hours. The marshal, named as Andy Kilvin, manually turned off CCTV cameras after hours when he was expected to have locked the premises up, and allowed his girlfriend and five other teenagers to use the site. The marshal has been removed from his position, and the company is considering taking legal action against him. Police and the local council have launched a joint investigation.
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Government ministers have advised councils to reduce speed limits on roads which are accident black spots.

According to the BBC, the ministers want the national speed limit reduced from 60 to 50 miles per hour on selected roads in rural areas and they also are requesting a gradual move towards 20 mph in residential and school areas. The aim of these proposals is to reduce the number of deaths on Britain’s’ roads. Over the past 10 years the government set itself a target of cutting the number of deaths and serious injuries caused by road traffic accidents by 40 % by 2010. This target has already been reached but, with 32,000 deaths still having occurred as a result of accidents on roads, ministers feel more can be done.

The move will be unpopular with many motorists but safety experts state that deaths are not falling fast enough, partly because of poor driving.
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