On 8 December 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby, talented journalist and the former editor of French Elle,  suffered a massive stroke and slipped into a coma. When he regained consciousness three weeks later, the only muscle left functioning was in his left eyelid.

Although his mind remained as active and alert as it had ever been, he was paralysed and unable to speak, a rare condition known as locked-in syndrome.

As the charming former editor-in-chief of a glamorous fashion magazine, Bauby already had a book deal and he decided to go ahead, dictating his memoir ‘The Diving Bell and the Butterfly’ by blinking his eyelid to depict the letters of words - one by one.

Publisher’s assistant Claude Mendibil spent three hours a day, seven days a week for two months chanting the alphabet to Jean-Dominique and some 200,000 blinks later, the book was complete.

It was intended to be a kind of a letter to his two children. ‘He wanted to show them he wasn't a vegetable, that he was still strong and capable inside. He really wanted to leave something behind for them to remember him by,’ Claude said, adding that she was deeply impressed by his desire to write and his courage.

The memoir records his day-to-day existence in hospital and the loneliness of locked-in syndrome as well as memories of his life before the stroke. Bauby’s spirit, wit and vitality triumph over his appalling circumstances and despite the difficulties, the Diving Bell, a metaphor for his useless body, is redeemed by his active mind.

'My cocoon becomes less oppressive, and my mind takes flight like a butterfly. There is so much to do. You can wander off in space or in time, set out for Tierra del Fuego or for King Midas's court.   You can visit the woman you love, slide down beside her and stroke her still sleeping face. You can build castles in Spain, steal the Golden Fleece, discover Atlantis, realize your childhood dreams and adult ambitions.' 

A few days after the books publication in March 1997, Bauby died of pneumonia.  The book went on to become an international bestseller and award-winning film.

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