Gunshot Wound

[RJNorton]

(08-20-2013 06:47 PM)Rhatkinson Wrote:  I've always found this issue interesting. Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like much of an intellectual life for Lincoln even if he had survived. That may have been worse than death (as horrid as that sounds.) Lincoln as inarticulate is a sad thought indeed.

"If he had lived, he would at the very least have been partially blind, unsteady on his feet, numb in certain regions of his body and inarticulate. Nevertheless, he might have been able to think and, after much rehabilitation, communicate."

Heath

Heath, here is what Dr. Lattimer thought. In his book he writes, There seems to be no reason to disagree with those who have stated that Lincoln could not possibly have survived this wound, even in modern times, and that, indeed, it is remarkable that he survived for nine hours, as he did, after the shooting. Even if he had survived, he most certainly would have been a decerebrate 'vegetable'; a cruel transformation from the sensitive, compassionate, and thoughtful chief of state which he had been.

I should add that Dr. Lattimer's book was published in 1980. Possibly medical advances made in the past 30+ years would make the outlook more positive than what Dr. Lattimer writes?