2020 is often labeled as one of the worst years ever. With all the notable deaths, protests, messy politics, and an added pandemic, it’s easy to see why. It was so horrendous many people actually wish they could just sleep through it. Well for 19 year old, Joseph Flavill, that wish became a reality. Flavill has just endured a 10 month long coma and has just recently woken up without holding any knowledge of a pandemic happening.

On March 1st, 2020, three weeks before Britain had a national lockdown, Joseph Flavill was struck by an oncoming car while walking in Burton. He suffered a brain injury that put him in a coma for the next few months. Despite being unaware of the pandemic, he still caught covid-19 twice while hospitalized. Thankfully he recovered both times. 

Recently in early February, Flavill has woken up, but he is still unable to properly communicate. For now he is able to slightly move his limbs, follow commands, and smile and blink. The teenager is still unaware of what’s happening in the outside world because his family wants to explain it to him once he is fully capable and they are able to have face-to-face conversations. For now due to covid restrictions his family is only able to see him through

their phone. 

According to The Guardian, Flavill’s aunt Sally expressed, “when he’s awake in his room, he’s not going to have any idea why he’s there. We do not talk about it on the phone, and we try to make him aware that we really want to be there holding his hands, but we are just unable to do it [because of covid].” The family has also raised nearly $33,000 to help with medical costs for Joseph and seek to raise awareness of the impact of traumatic brain injuries as well. 

There’s no way to properly understand the emotions that Joseph and his family are experiencing in these insane times, but hopefully Joseph will make a smooth recovery and will one day return to the world that he and the rest of us remember.