Mark Ellis, a 22-year-old Derbyshire man, suffered a debilitating stroke just a few weeks after his wife gave birth to their daughter, Lily-Rose. The stroke left Ellis with locked-in-syndrome—a condition in which the mind is unharmed but the rest of the body is subjected to total paralysis—and the inability to communicate with anything other than an eye roll. The doctors did not think his heart would be able to handle the strain, and that he would not survive long in his current state.
However, Ellis defied the doctors and the odds by mimicking the habits of his brand new daughter. Using her developmental growth as a blueprint for his own recovery, he has swiftly regained the ability to talk and walk, using a metal frame. Ellis uses Lily-Rose’s toys and games to re-train his mind on how to use his body and copies her “coo’s” and “ga-ga’s” to re-learn how to talk. Ellis’ wife, Amy, told The Telegraph that “I was told not to expect anything from Mark after his stroke so I’m overwhelmed by how well he’s done. Anything and everything he does now is just amazing” …
