Friso, Dutch Prince, Brain Damaged And In A Coma After Being Struck By Avalanche
A Dutch prince caught in an avalanche while skiing in Austria last week suffered brain damage and may never regain consciousness, doctors have said.
Johan Friso, who is the second son of Queen Beatrix, was injured while skiing offpiste with a friend in the resort of Lech.
The 43-year-old is believed to have spent some 20 minutes buried underneath snow before he was hospitalised.
Today it emerged the prince also suffered a heart attack, Wolfgang Koller, head of the trauma unit at Innsbruck University Hospital told a press conference.
He said: “Due to the length of time he was covered under the snow, his brain was deprived of oxygen.
“This led to cardiac arrest, which lasted about 50 minutes. The patient had to be reanimated during this entire period. Fifty minutes of reanimation is a very long time, one could say, too long.”
Friso, who is married with two young daughters, will be moved to a private rehabilitation clinic at a later date for futher treatment.
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First Posted: 24/02/2012 13:29 Updated: 24/02/2012 13:34