Gary French Dockery (October 15, 1953 – April 15, 1997) was an American police officer in Walden, Tennessee. After being critically injured in 1988, he spent seven and a half years in a coma-like state. In 1996, he emerged from the coma and started talking enthusiastically, recognizing friends and recalling events from past years. He then fell back into a coma and died a year later.
On September 17, 1988, Dockery was shot in the forehead by a drunken assailant as he responded to a domestic disturbance call. His shooter, Samuel Frank Downey, then aged 68, had made the call falsely reporting a disturbance and then shot Dockery at point blank range. He later told police that he had wanted revenge against the police for reprimanding him about noise following a noise complaint from his neighbors. Downey was sentenced to 37 years in prison. Dockery slipped into what doctors called a persistent vegetative state, unable to communicate except with occasional eye blinks and groans, indicating that part of his brain was still working. Although he could respond, he was not conscious.[1][2][3]
On Monday, February 12, 1996, Dockery stirred and started talking, recognizing old friends, recalling the names of his horses, and recalling camping trips.[1][2][4] He spoke less on Tuesday, and not at all the following day.
Four days after he began talking, Dockery underwent lung surgery due to a life-threatening infection.[4] On April 15, 1997, he died at the age of 43 from a blood clot in his lung. Dockery was transported from his nursing home to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he was pronounced dead at 9:52 a.m.[5]