"Pop, Pop, Pop." She Heard Her Brain in Action - Issue 59: Connections

In November of 2012, Jan Scheuermann did something she never thought she would do again: She fed herself a piece of chocolate. For the last decade Scheuermann, 54, has been a prisoner in her own body. She suffers from a mysterious degenerative disorder that attacks the nervous system, severing the connections between the brain and muscles. Now a quadriplegic, Scheuermann has no movement below her neck. She can't move her limbs, let alone grasp, move, or hold anything.