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Born with Half a Brain, Woman Living Full Life

cnn.com — Michelle Mack has turned medical thinking upside down. Born with only half a brain, Mack can speak normally, graduated from high school and has an uncanny knack for dates. At 27, doctors determined that the right side of her brain had essentially rewired itself to make up for function that was likely lost during pre-birth stroke.

Who dugg this? Made popular Oct 13, 2009

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  • Lloydinator, on 10/13/2009, -5/+66Wow, a woman with half a brain can accomplish so many things, and yet there are those who have both hemispheres and yet act like such complete idiots.
  • blofeld9999, on 10/13/2009, -22/+75A woman with half a brain - what's so unusual about this story?
  • FuckRepublicans, on 10/13/2009, -1/+47I bet zombies are only half as likely to go after her...
  • Layne, on 10/13/2009, -8/+36I sure hope the sandwich making center of the brain is still intact.
  • PhillyMJS, on 10/13/2009, -1/+23Came here for a cheap, misogynistic chuckle. Left satisfied.
  • MacBookForMe, on 10/13/2009, -0/+22Amazing story! And how much do we really know about our brain? Still not much...
  • qwer777, on 10/13/2009, -1/+20The brains ability to rewire is amazing. I was born 3 months early, and the malformed ventricle in my brain, combined with the strokes and seizures, destroyed about 1/4 of my brain. Yet, for all this, I came out with only Cerebral Palsy(manifesting in a severe limp and next to no use of my right arm, but this is mild compared to others) and Hydrocephalus(due to the malformed ventricle).
  • borez, on 10/13/2009, -1/+19She should pay half.
  • oderdigg, on 10/13/2009, -2/+20You're. If you're going to flame someone, spell properly.
  • untreadatom, on 10/13/2009, -14/+31Glenn Beck seems to be doing fine too.
  • andyb747, on 10/13/2009, -1/+18Maybe she wasn't born with half a brain maybe she was born with 1 and we are all born with 2 brains.... kind of like ass cheeks.
  • qwer777, on 10/13/2009, -0/+17I treasure this life, and don't see it as the life of a 'damned cripple.' I see it as a life filled with adversity that has made me stronger, and more empathetic to the oppressed and damaged.
  • apetrie, on 10/13/2009, -0/+14If only we could detect ***** at birth and snuff them out, we'd mercifully have been spared you.

    Who the ***** are you to tell qwer777 that no life would be better than the one he has? Jackass.
  • veriix, on 10/13/2009, -5/+18What is it like having your entire outlook on life skewed by politics?
  • copypastry, on 10/13/2009, -0/+13Synaptic plasticity FTW
  • raydeen, on 10/13/2009, -0/+10She's got 1/4 more than I've got.
  • veriix, on 10/13/2009, -1/+11Any regrets about the user name?
  • nutzngum, on 10/13/2009, -0/+9thank you, ripple123 for reaffirming that old equation :

    internet+anonymity=*****
  • Atrius, on 10/13/2009, -1/+8Liberal here:

    I'm digging you down because you've already repeated what so many others have said in funnier, less direct, less partisan, less *****-ish ways. At least try to be funny.
  • qwer777, on 10/13/2009, -0/+7geogeer... this is digg. it is full of trolls. I WISH he was /s, but I doubt it.
  • hanglerfig, on 10/13/2009, -1/+8Doesn't this officially make her a Floridian?
  • OmNomNomBACON, on 10/13/2009, -1/+8Its unusual because they usually don't have a brain.
  • tomjm5000, on 10/13/2009, -3/+10http://instantrimshot.com/
  • Bovorik, on 10/13/2009, -13/+19Certainly clears up the Sarah Palin mystery.
  • beaudanker, on 10/13/2009, -15/+21Wow! A Fox News, Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin joke in just the first dozen comments. Shouldn't you guys still be in bed from not having a job?
  • IAmMrTea08, on 10/13/2009, -1/+6http://imgur.com/Q7qzu.jpg
  • drsjlazar, on 10/13/2009, -1/+6I'm sure I know a few people with half a brain...
  • GamerXR72, on 10/13/2009, -0/+5Does that mean that brain matter wires itself on the fly while in development, working with what it has?
  • m0ng00se68, on 10/13/2009, -0/+5Brains. Now in Fun Size too.
  • borez, on 10/13/2009, -0/+4I dugg you for your...

    ...Can't remember.
  • qwer777, on 10/13/2009, -0/+4Thanks m0ng00se! It is good to see some civility on the internet.
  • m0ng00se68, on 10/13/2009, -0/+4qwer777, I'd like to apologize on behalf of all the decent people on digg , and for that matter any people who have an ounce of humanity at all, for the ***** comment ripple123 made above. Ripple obviously has some issues of his own that need to be addressed.
  • inactive, on 10/13/2009, -3/+7Conservatives are just such easy targets. I can't think of another group of people who willingly and proudly puts their ignorance on display to such an extent.

    Don't worry.. I'm not terribly fond of Democrats either.
  • Frostek, on 10/13/2009, -0/+4Which pretty much boots all those Singularity-worshipping people up the bum with a healthy dose of realism.
  • phydeaux70, on 10/13/2009, -3/+6Very nice. I concur.
  • ThinkCenter, on 10/13/2009, -0/+3http://www.flickr.com/photos/vaxzine/2278300537/si ...
  • lostradamus, on 10/13/2009, -2/+5Woman with only half a brain lives at home with her parents and pays rent? Damn that's cold.
  • smokinDND, on 10/13/2009, -0/+3"Medical thinking upsidedown" - this is nothing new, they use this case scenario in university to explain how the brain works.
  • icepick314, on 10/13/2009, -2/+5along with beer fetching lobe....
  • bubbadigg, on 10/13/2009, -2/+4I think my wife only has half a brain, and trust me she can't accomplish anything
  • Atrius, on 10/13/2009, -2/+4Unlike yours, our stereotype is true.

  • banik2008, on 10/13/2009, -0/+2Your condascending? *That* boggles my mind.
  • shylove, on 10/13/2009, -0/+2Yes, but the point is she isn't totally normal. So she is saying people should understand there are other people in the world other than her that have problems also and we should attempt to empahaize more before we jump conclusions as to how bad or disgusting or idiotic a person is before we have a better idea why they are acting the way they are. We tend to be a very punitive society toward others as well as ourselves that likes to assign blame rather than understand someones or our own problems better first.
  • phydeaux70, on 10/13/2009, -0/+2The only difference here is that she only has a 1/2 of a brain to use, and a majority of people on Digg, only use 1/2 of theirs.

    On a more serious note, this goes to show how much we still have to learn about the human body, and its potential.

    Given the opportunity many people would abort a child they knew that would be born with only 1/2 of a brain. Lesson learned here if you choose to listen.
  • Atrius, on 10/13/2009, -1/+3"Mack's parents, Carol and Wally, realized shortly after her birth that something was wrong."

    Hey, look at that. Not known before birth, and therefore before any abortions could considered or performed. Don't bring your ***** agenda here when it obviously does not apply.

    If you now want to argue your case, at the very least change your phrase to 'an unprepared mother'. Hack.
  • doctressjulia, on 10/13/2009, -0/+2Quelle ***** surprise.
  • untreadatom, on 10/14/2009, -0/+1You agree then that beck has half a brain?
  • inactive, on 10/14/2009, -0/+1no she's probably from california
  • inactive, on 10/14/2009, -0/+1Obama is sooo much better. He has CHANGED so much.
  • inactive, on 10/14/2009, -0/+1who are you talking too?
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