But Martin wasn't the "vegetable" that doctors said he was. In fact, he could see and hear everything.

"I cannot even express to you how much I hated Barney," he recently told NPR.

In the 1980s, Martin was a typical active youngster growing up in South Africa. But, then, at age 12, he came down with an illness that baffled doctors, and that eventually resulted in him losing his ability to move his limbs, then to make eye contact, and finally to speak.

His parents, Rodney and Joan Pistorius, were told that he was a "vegetable" and the best thing for them to do was take him home and keep him comfortable until he died.

But the youngster continued to live despite the diagnosis.

"Martin just kept going, just kept going," his mom said.

Now, in a new memoir, "Ghost Boy: My Escape From A Life Locked Inside My Own Body," Martin has revealed that, although he was initially unconscious as doctors thought, after about two years he started waking up, eventually becoming fully conscious of everything around him.

Martin's dad, Rodney, cared for his son throughout the ordeal, and recalls the daily routine of rising at five in the morning to get Martin ready for a day at a special care center.

"Eight hours later, I'd pick him up, bathe him, feed him, put him in bed, set my alarm for two hours so that I'd wake up to turn him so that he didn't get bedsores," Rodney said in an NPR report.

Martin remembers, however, that his mom at one point lost hope, and while gazing at her son and thinking he could not hear her, said "I hope you die."

But he did hear her.

"Yes, I was there, not from the very beginning, but about two years into my vegetative state, I began to wake up," Martin said.

"I was aware of everything, just like any normal person. Everyone was so used to me not being there that they didn't notice when I began to be present again. The stark reality hit me that I was going to spend the rest of my life like..."

Read more here.

To receive daily emails from Breaking Christian News to your inbox CLICK HERE

Give Him 15: Mercy is Our New Currency

A Little Baby Girl Is Rescued from a Dumpster in Texas. A Dumpster

Nonprofit Asks Feds to Investigate Schools' 'Gender-Affirming Care' Practices

Latest Move by the President to Prevent a Government Shutdown Is Brilliant

Trump Closes Loophole Allowing Illegal Aliens to Drive Commercial Trucks After Tragic Accidents

Trump's Administration Finds 25,000 Missing Migrant Children

Autism, What We Know: Science Backs Up President Trump's Statements

Former FBI Director James Comey Indicted by Grand Jury for Obstruction in Russia Hoax Investigation

The Spiritual Battle is REAL!: Sean McDowell's Son Encounters a 'Demon' While Evangelizing in NYC

3 Suspects Arrested after Houston Youth Baseball Coach Shot during Pregame Prayer With Kids

Explosive Clash: Dearborn Mayor Attacks Resident Who Objected to Terrorist Street Naming

Economy: Second Quarter GDP Revised Up – Again – to Best Quarter Since 2023

DOGE Helped Uncover the Biggest Health Care Heist in American History

Charlie's TPUSA Campus Tours Continue as Virginia Tech Venue Fills to Max Capacity

Justice Department Seeks to Indict Former FBI Director James Comey before Looming Deadline, for Allegedly Lying to Congress

What Happens When You 'Pause' Your Child's Puberty? The Answer Is Even More Devastating Than You'd Think

Texas Bans Gender-Confused People from Using Opposite-Sex Facilities in Public Schools, Prisons

NBC Forced to Retract Claim that ICE Used 5-Year-Old Autistic Girl as 'Bait'; In Reality, Her Criminal Alien Father Abandoned Her in a Car and Agents Rescued the Child

President Trump Urges UN to Protect 'The Most Persecuted Religion on the Planet Today: Christianity'

Secret Service Finds, Dismantles Massive 'Telecommunications Threat' Near UN General Assembly in New York