Description
What if you wake up during surgery — but can't move or tell anyone? Donna Penner says she experienced exactly that.
Donna Penner's account takes us inside one of anesthesia's most unsettling possibilities: awareness during surgery. Through her story and animated explanations, we explore how consciousness and movement can come apart, what patients may remember, and how often awareness is reported.
We also look at a separate reported case involving Matt Caswell, and why remembering planned sedation is different from awareness under general anesthesia.
00:00 Awake, but unable to move
00:42 Donna Penner's story
01:45 Surviving wasn't the end
02:09 Imagine being the patient
02:22 Consciousness, pain and movement
03:03 What monitors can tell us
03:23 Another reported case
03:43 How often does it happen?
04:31 Why these stories matter
The illustrated scenes reconstruct patient accounts or explain hypothetical situations. They are not recordings of the operations. Experiences vary; Donna's account does not describe every case of anesthesia awareness.
Sources and further reading:
Donna Penner's account — David Robson, Bhekisisa / BBC Future:
https://bhekisisa.org/article/2019-04-15-00-when-anesthetic-fails-what-its-like-waking-up-during-surgery-anesthesia-awareness/
Matt Caswell report — KCTV/KSMO via ABC17 News:
https://abc17news.com/news/national-world/2021/05/03/man-says-he-was-awake-unable-to-speak-or-move-during-surgery/
American Society of Anesthesiologists — Anesthesia awareness:
https://madeforthismoment.asahq.org/preparing-for-surgery/risks/waking-up-during-surgery/
Royal College of Anaesthetists — Accidental awareness:
https://www.rcoa.ac.uk/patients/patient-information-resources/anaesthesia-risk/risks-associated-general-anaesthesia/accidental-awareness
#AnesthesiaAwareness #MedicalDocumentary