A girl spent a full 7 years in another reality during a 3‑week coma
The 19‑year‑old Frenchwoman Clélia Verdie attempted suicide, after which doctors were forced to place her in a drug‑induced coma to stabilize her condition and save her life.
The doctors stated that she had never had any children and that she had been unconscious in intensive care for three weeks. But, as it turned out, for Clélia it had not been three weeks but seven years. She began to describe in detail a life that never existed: meeting her future husband, a lavish wedding, the birth of three daughters, and the death in infancy of one of them.
Doctors were struck by the level of detail in these memories. She remembered every
trifle: the stories she read to her daughters at night, walks in the parks, birthday celebrations, and even the physical sensations of a difficult childbirth. These memories were so vivid and emotionally charged that they differed fundamentally
from ordinary dreams or hallucinations. During her time in the coma, Clélia’s brain did not merely generate a collection of images, but a complete biography with logic,
cause‑and‑effect relationships and deep personal experiences.
Psychologists are now working with her, trying to help her accept the fact that her dearest memories, love for her children, and the endured
pain are merely products of a sick imagination. The problem is that the girl’s psyche is desperately resisting the relinquishment of these memories, as it means losing a part of herself, her identity, which was formed during those very “seven years.”
