death_place death_date parents birth_date known_for article_title name
tarpon springs , florida 25 november 1978 louis -lrb- `` louie '' -rrb- and lucy esposito 3 december 1934 longest period of human unconsciousness elaine esposito
 elaine esposito
elaine esposito

elaine esposito -lrb- december 3 , 1934 -- november 25 , 1978 -rrb- holds the record for longest coma according to the guinness world records , having lost consciousness in 1941 and eventually dying in that condition more than 37 years later .
elaine was the only child of louis and lucy esposito of chicago , illinois .
at age 6 she was taken to a hospital having suffered a ruptured appendix , where she underwent an appendectomy on august 6 , 1941 .
she never awoke after being anesthetized .
as the surgery was coming to an end , she went into convulsions , her temperature rose to , and doctors feared that she would not survive the night .
the cause of the complication was debated with some suggesting that elaine had encephalitis and others saying that her brain was not receiving enough oxygen during the operation .
the first ten months of her coma were spent in a chicago hospital until her parents could no longer afford her care , at which point they took her home so her mother lucy could care for her day and night .
in her lengthy coma she showed states of both deep sleep and open-eyed unconsciousness and she grew slightly to .
elaine survived numerous other conditions over the years , including additional abdominal surgery , pneumonia , the measles , and a collapsed lung .
the family eventually moved to tarpon springs , florida , and she was also taken to visit the grotto at lourdes , france , where her parents hoped for a miracle .
her father , louis , who had been working multiple jobs , died from cancer in january 1978 .
elaine died later that year at the age of 43 years 357 days , having been in a coma for 37 years 111 days .
the story of elaine esposito was brought back into attention in the late 1990s and early 2000s in the controversy surrounding the case of terri schiavo , who was in a persistent vegetative state .
coincidentally , schiavo and elaine were both being cared for in pinellas county , florida , at the time of their deaths , and they also share a birthday -lrb- december 3 -rrb- .
