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Factual: Life Stories

True stories of ordinary people and the extraordinary events that have shaped their lives.

Outlook: Entombed in My Own Body for Over 12 Years

Martin and Joanna Pistorius with Lucy Ash

23/10/2013

Entombed in My Own Body for Over 12 Years

BBC World Service - Outlook, Entombed in My Own Body for Over 12 Years

Martin Pistorius, the South African who became ill and ended up unable to move or speak

Martin Pistorius became ill when he was 12 and ended up unable to move or speak. He talks about learning to communicate and falling in love.

Martin Pistorius explains how a mystery illness left him unable to speak or control his movements. He and his wife Joanna joined Lucy Ash in the Outlook studio, to talk about learning to communicate, writing a book and falling in love. 

Also, we speak to Abdul Malik, the maths teacher in the southern Indian state of Kerala, who has been stripping down and swimming to the school where he works for twenty years - without missing a day or ever being late. 

We hear from the poet, publisher and philanthropist Felix Dennis about his love of trees. And, American artist Kara Walker, who explores racial tensions and the legacy of the slave trade, talks to Lucy about why race first became an important theme in her work.

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