The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep: Boy Stayed Awake 24 Hours A Day for Years

Posted by Alex in Baby & Kids, Medicine on May 10, 2008 at 3:21 pm


Rhett Lamb is often cranky like any other 3-year-old toddler, but there’s one thing that makes him completely different: he has a rare medical condition in which he can’t sleep a wink.

Rhett is awake nearly 24 hours a day, and his condition has baffled his parents and doctors for years. They took clock shifts watching his every sleep-deprived mood to determine what ailed the young boy.

After a number of conflicting opinions, Shannon and David Lamb finally learned what was wrong with their child: Doctors diagnosed Rhett with an extremely rare condition called chiari malformation.

"The brain literally is squeezed into the spinal column. What happens is you get compression, squeezing, strangulating of the brain stem, which has all the vital functions that control sleep, speech, our cranial nerves, our circulatory system, even our breathing system," Savard said.

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17 comments to "The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep: Boy Stayed Awake 24 Hours A Day for Years"

  1. Tim
    May 10th, 2008 at 4:10 pm

    Something as simple as his mother or father saying "I can't sleep" while the boy was an infant or not yet born could be keeping him awake.

  2. Shep
    May 10th, 2008 at 4:23 pm

    hey, i was diagnosed with a chiari 1 malformation a few weeks ago... this malformation had caused a build up of spinal fluid in my spinal column. After this was found out it explained many of my symptoms (shaking, headaches etc..) so last wednesday i had decompression surgery. This went very well and the pressure was relieved! Since then i have had none of my symptoms! All i have now is an uncomfortable neck, anyway just thought i would tell you of my experience.

  3. andrew
    May 10th, 2008 at 5:08 pm

    uh. Tim, what? this kid has a physiological problem; swelling in parts of his brain. I don't see how that's attributable to something as 'soft' as parent's attitude.

  4. CheeseDuck
    May 10th, 2008 at 5:14 pm

    Wait? 24 hours for years? That doesn't make much sense to me.

    But seriously thats pretty sad.

  5. kasia
    May 10th, 2008 at 7:23 pm

    Chiari malformations are FAR from rare. I did MRI for years and fond plenty of them. Most people that have them come in complaining of unrelenting headaches

  6. ty
    May 10th, 2008 at 8:21 pm

    man, how surreal would drowsiness feel once the effects of the surgery started to kick in, months later. the weight of your eyelids, a feeling that you've never felt before in the few years of your life, could be traumatically confused with death. scary.

  7. Ola Amigo
    May 11th, 2008 at 12:16 am

    If I were that kid I'd be pretty irritable too. If you recall Sarte's No Exit. Hell is a place where no one sleeps, closes their eyes, the light's never go off, and you're never alone. Rough.

  8. ted
    May 11th, 2008 at 8:37 am

    Tim, don't be asinine.
    Maybe his body Thetans are keeping him awake. Maybe he's the reincarnation of L Ron Hubbard, and he doesn't need sleep.

    The article is misleading. It doesn't say he stays awake the whole 24 hours every day; it says "almost 24 hours".

    The kid does sleep; he just has very little sleep.

  9. Viola
    May 11th, 2008 at 9:20 am

    <3 ted

    To be fair, though, who wants to be up 23 hours a day? I don't see how that's any better.

  10. clinton robert labombard
    May 11th, 2008 at 10:02 am

    If only I could.. can you imagine the shoplifting fun??

  11. Alex
    May 11th, 2008 at 11:15 am

    @CheeseDuck - yes, 24 hours a day for years. It was awkward ... Fixed now.

  12. ted
    May 11th, 2008 at 12:39 pm

    To be fair is also to be honest. "nearly 24 hours" and "almost 24 hours" are not the same as "24 hours".

    "24 hours" implies that the child has NOT slept a wink for the last three years.

    Furthermore, Tim's stupid comment is typical of his Scientology background - any sickness you have is all in your head - and, frankly, it's an insult to anybody who has ever experienced any sort of illness in their life.

  13. Reg
    May 12th, 2008 at 10:37 am

    I have definitely heard of this symptom and the releasing of fluid from the spinal cord. It is definitely rare but necessary for some people.

    I feel that surgery should be the last resort. Maybe, they should wait for another 24 hours to decide, whether they should proceed with the surgery.

    I am not trying to sound religious or offend anyone but have they tried prayer. With prayer and a lot of faith, it goes a long ways with every part of life.

  14. Reg
    May 12th, 2008 at 10:42 am

    If anyone has anything insensitive to add, please do not share your stupidity like Tim or Clinton Robert Lombombard just did.

    If anyone wants to poke fun at this, then do not even bother making any comments whatsoever.

    This is a kid for crying out loud. Would anyone of you guys want someone poking fun at you?

  15. ted
    May 12th, 2008 at 8:12 pm

    Be realistic, Reg.
    I think it's time for surgery. Miracles are rarer than rare medical conditions.

  16. matt
    May 13th, 2008 at 1:59 am

    Wow! some people are really uptight here. Last I remember this site is called neato-rama, not Amnesty International nor any MentaL Health website.

    @clinton robert labombard That was funny.
    @Reg Chill the f*ck out dude. No one is making fun of this child. He will never read this. You will d*e alone.

  17. Tess
    January 24th, 2009 at 6:54 pm

    ok, the kid will prbably never read this but, so what?!

    Reg....THAT was dumb
    matt....YOU are s****d!

    how do you like that! matt will "probably never read this".


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