A man paralyzed by a stroke since 2005 has managed to do what could be a first in the Twitter universe: send a tweet using his eye movement, a UK-based news site reported.

 

UK's The Guardian said Tony Nicklinson, who has locked-in syndrome and wants doctors to end his life lawfully, quickly gained 2,500 followers on his Twitter account.

 

"Hello world. I am tony nicklinson, I have locked-in syndrome and this is my first ever tweet," he said in his first post on his Twitter account last June 13.

Hello world. I am tony nicklinson, I have locked-in syndrome and this is my first ever tweet. #tony

— TonyNicklinson (@TonyNicklinson) June 13, 2012

 

As of the evening of July 19, his Twitter account had over 27,000 followers.

 

But what makes his tweeting unique is that he uses special eye movement technology to access Twitter, The Guardian reported.

 

It said Nicklinson, 57, can only communicate by using a computer that follows his eye movements. Software converts his eye movement into the letters of the alphabet and in turn into words and speech.

 

Nicklinson and his family, who live in Melksham, Wiltshire, are arguing before the high court that a doctor should be allowed lawfully to end his life.

 

The Guardian quoted him as saying his life is “dull, miserable, demeaning, undignified and intolerable.”

 

Nicklinson suffered a stroke in 2005 while on a business trip to Athens. He has two grown-up daughters and had an active life before the stroke.

 

A separate article in the Huffington Post said his locked-in syndrome allows him to “think and reason” but not have control over voluntary muscles except “those that control blinking and vertical eye movements.”

 

The High Court was scheduled to hear the case on June 18, the same day the Channel 4 Dispatches segment on his life airs.

 

For now, Nicklinson’s wife Jane said her husband’s venture into social media offers him an avenue to share his ideas, no matter how controversial they may seem. — TJD, GMA News