Real Life Sleeping Beauty
By: WPXI
Updated: November 20, 2012
Rip Van Winkle slept for 20 years. When he awoke, his wife had died and world events had changed dramatically.
Most of us think that fable is pure fiction, but for one young Pittsburgh area girl and her family it's all too real.
10-year-old Nicole Delien appears happy and healthy, but at any time she can fall victim to a rare and debilitating disorder that causes her to sleep for days and weeks at a time.
Harry Delien, Nicole's father, said that when Nicole does awaken during these episodes she's in a trance and behaves strangely.
"She does a lot of child-like mannerism, a lot of repetitive things. A lot of obsession, a lot of hallucinations."
