The Longest Slumber: A 32-Year Sleep Mystery

Sweden is known for its fairy tales, though this isn’t a tale but a reality. On the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, there’s a place named Okno in Sweden, where a girl was born—on a normal day with an upcoming fairy tale. Karolina Olsson is kind of considered a semi-celebrity figure because of her bizarre, unnatural life. She was the only sister among five brothers in her family.

On February 18, 1876, she came back home with bruises and said that she had slipped and fallen on the frozen lake. At first, a headache and then severe toothache were the only symptoms. Literacy was lacking back then, and her family was superstitious. Her mother thought this was some witch’s spell and told her to rest. Fourteen-year-old Karolina lay down to sleep—and never woke up again!

Doesn’t sound familiar? She became Okno’s Sleeping Beauty—the only difference is her prince charming never arrived. Back to reality, her mother took care of her during that whole time. Two glasses of milk were force-fed to her—that’s it! They weren’t financially solvent, so early treatment wasn’t possible.

Later, in 1892, Dr. Johan Emil Almbladh hospitalized her for electrical shock treatment; even that couldn’t bring out any response from her. Needle pricking was also tried—and failed. Dr. Almbladh diagnosed her condition as severe hysteria, a common diagnosis for women with unexplained conditions back then. After her hospital stay, she was said to have dementia paralytica, a late-stage syphilis condition, but there’s no evidence of that claim either. Catatonia, narcolepsy, Encephalitis Lethargica—many medical theories, but no accurate evidence.

In 1905, 28 years after her comatose state began, her mother died. She wept and mourned in her deep sleep (according to her family’s statement). Though she never woke up, many said she moved and even talked. Her family was accused of hiding the reality of her condition to gain attention. This and that…

Finally, in 1908, after 32 years, Karolina woke up from her deep slumber. She had no memory of those 32 years and faced difficulties adjusting to the changed world. In 1910, a Swedish psychiatrist named Harald Fröderström showed interest in her case and later published a paper suggesting that the incident on that day might have caused her severe psychological trauma, leading to withdrawal—an extreme case of psychosis indeed! Though her 32 years remained a case of skepticism and mystery in medical history, she survived another 42 years until 1950.

Famous glass artist Bertil Vallien found her case inspiring. His ‘Brain’ series was inspired by Karolina’s case. He created a sculpture named Törnrosa (The Sleeping Beauty). In his eyes, Karolina’s case was a symbol of isolation, rare human conditions, and time.

That’s the real-life fairy tale story. Had fun sharing with you!

Let’s chat on Saturday.

Thanks,
Jessie.