John Ansen's case exploded in the group, a person with only half a brain actually lived just fine.
Such a hemispheric brain was a rarity to others, but not to John Ansen.
Though he had never seen a person with a congenitally hemispheric brain, he had seen people who had undergone surgery to remove half of their brain.
There is a type of surgery called hemispherectomy, which is suitable for children with intractable epilepsy. By surgically removing all or part of the diseased hemisphere, while typically preserving the basal ganglia and thalamus, this disconnects the diseased hemisphere from the healthy one. This can cure intractable epilepsy and relieve the patient's suffering.
