A mother left unable to walk or talk after suffering a massive stroke has defied the odds to complete a university degree - by blinking.
一位母亲在一次严重的中风后失去了走路和说话的能力,然而她却通过眨眼拿到了本科学历。
Dawn Faizey Webster was left with locked-in syndrome after the attack in 2003, two weeks after her son Alexander was born.
道恩·费儿兹·韦伯斯特2003年生下儿子亚历山大两周后就患上了闭锁综合症。
The condition is where a patient is fully-aware and awake - but cannot move or communicate verbally due to complete paralysis of nearly all muscles in the body, except for the eyes.
闭锁综合症的患者意识完全清醒,但几乎全身瘫痪,不能行动或进行口头交流,仅有眼部可以活动。
Incredibly, the former teacher, then 30, discovered she could still communicate through her eyes and tiny head movements.
不过,当时30岁还在教书的韦伯斯特却奇迹般地发现她仍然可以通过眼部和轻微的头部动作进行交流。
She has now achieved a 2:2 degree in Ancient History and written an autobiography - all thanks to a specialised laptop that translates her eye movements into text.
她拥有一台特殊的笔记本电脑,可以把她的眼部动作翻译成文本。在这台电脑的帮助下,她古代史的平均分达到了70分以上,而且撰写了一本自传。
Ms Faizey Webster, now 42, worked three-hours a day on the degree, nudging buttons either side of her head to move the cursor on the screen and blinking to register the letters.
韦伯斯特今年42岁,每天学习三个小时。学习时,她通过轻推头部两侧的按钮来移动屏幕上的鼠标,通过眨眼键入字母。
Six years on, she has completed the course with honours and is now hoping to tackle a Masters in History of Art.
她在六年中以优异的成绩完成了课程,现在她希望能继续攻读艺术史硕士学位。
Ms Faizey Webster said: 'When I passed my degree, I was so pleased and proud of myself. I had achieved my goal that I had for six years been striving for.
韦伯斯特表示:“当我获得学士学位后,我非常高兴,并且为自己感到骄傲。我实现了六年以来一直追求的目标。”
'No matter what obstacles were in my way, such as getting pneumonia twice and other lesser illnesses, I was determined to reach my goal.
“不管遇到什么困难,是得了两次肺炎或是什么其他疾病,我都决心要完成我的目标。”