The story of Karolina Olsson, known as the “Oknö Sleeper”, is one of the most extraordinary and mysterious medical and psychological cases ever recorded.
This Swedish woman, who lived between the 19th and 20th centuries, spent 32 years of her life in a deep and apparently uninterrupted sleep, suddenly awakening in 1908. Her story closely resembles the famous fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty, but unlike the story, Karolina’s life was marked by real and inexplicable events that still today continue to raise questions and reflections.
The story of Karolina Olsson
Karolina was born on October 29, 1861 on the island of Oknö, Sweden, the last daughter of a family of five children. His childhood passed peacefully, without any noteworthy events, until 1876, when, at just 14 years old, he returned home in tears with a swollen face and unbearable pain in his teeth. She told her parents that she slipped on an icy surface while crossing a river, a seemingly trivial episode that however gave rise to an extraordinary experience. The pain became so acute that her parents decided to let her rest, without suspecting that this would be the beginning of a sleep lasting more than three decades.
In the following days and weeks, despite her family’s attempts to wake her, Karolina remained in an unconscious state. Concerned neighbors helped raise money to allow the family to see doctors, but no one was able to provide a clear diagnosis or awaken her. Medical techniques of the time, including extreme methods such as passing an electric current through the body, proved useless. In the meantime, the family’s life adapted to the new reality: Karolina remained in her bed, lovingly cared for by her mother who, it is said, fed her by giving her milk while she was unconscious.
For 32 years, Karolina’s life remained suspended, her family took care of her with dedication, maintaining her stable condition, despite her total lack of responsiveness. Doctors of the time were perplexed: science was unable to explain how it was possible for a person to survive for so long in a state of apparent lethargy without serious physical or neurological consequences. In 1905, Karolina’s mother died, and the task of caring for her passed to a governess.
Karolina’s long sleep did not fail to raise hypotheses and speculations. Some thought it was an extreme form of narcolepsy or catatonia, while others began to consider that the cause could be psychological, perhaps linked to a deep trauma. Despite the theories, no one was ever able to provide a definitive explanation or interrupt his sleep.
The unexpected awakening
In 1908, the lives of Karolina and those around her suddenly changed. The housekeeper who was taking care of her heard noises coming from the sleeper’s room. Going upstairs, he found Karolina awake and standing, albeit staggering, crying desperately. The woman, now 46 years old, remembered nothing of the long period spent sleeping and was unable to recognize her brothers, now adults and aged. The event was shocking for the community, which gathered around her to understand what had happened.
Karolina, surprisingly, seemed healthy, despite weight loss and behavior more like that of a child than an adult. Within a few weeks he recovered his ability to speak and his physical strength, a fact that puzzled doctors and scientists. This extraordinary recovery fueled further speculation: some hypothesized that Karolina had never been in a true state of sleep, but the victim of a complex psychosis or even a deception orchestrated for unknown reasons.
The mystery has never been solved
Among the doctors who studied Karolina’s case, the Swedish psychiatrist Harald Fröderström put forward the hypothesis that the woman may have suffered a devastating emotional trauma, capable of triggering a sort of catatonic psychosis. This theory, while interesting, did not fully explain how his body had survived for so long without proper nutrition and without moving. Even today, with the most advanced medical knowledge, Karolina Olsson’s case remains unique and shrouded in mystery.
After waking up, Karolina resumed a normal life. He lived another 42 years, dying in 1950 at the age of 88. Despite the time that has passed, his experience continues to be the subject of curiosity and study, an enigma that poses fundamental questions about the human mind and its ability to deal with profound traumas.
