A Belgian man wrongly diagnosed as vegetative for 23 years has said the discovery he was fully conscious brought him a feeling of rebirth after decades of loneliness and frustration.

Car-crash victim Rom Houben was diagnosed as being in a vegetative state but appears to have been conscious the whole time.

An expert using a specialised type of brain scan which was not available in the 1980s finally realised this - and provided him with the equipment to communicate.

Houben told AP Television News that years of being unable to move or communicate left him feeling "alone, lonely, frustrated, but also blessed with my family."

Asked if he felt reborn, he responded: "Just like with a baby, it happens with a lot of stumbling."