French journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby suffered a stroke in December 1995. When he awoke 20 days later, he found his body was almost completely paralyzed; he could control only his left eyelid (as the other was sewn shut to prevent an infection). By blinking this eye, he slowly dictated one alphabetic character at a time and, in so doing, was able over a great length of time to write his memoir, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly; the memoir was adapted to the screen in a namesake 2007 movie. Two days after the book was published in March 1997, Bauby died from pneumonia. He was instrumental in forming the Association du Locked in Syndrome (ALIS) in France.