Royal Watch News

Prince Johan Friso briefly wakes

Sep 25, 2012, 12:01 GMT

Prince Johan Friso

Holland's Prince Johan Friso woke briefly from his coma last week.

The royal, who turned 44 today (25.09.12), suffered a severe brain injury in a skiing accident that left him buried in an avalanche in the Austrian Alps for 20 minutes in February and has been in a coma ever since but recently moved for the first time since the tragedy.

Family friend Archbishop Desmond Tutu revealed the prince's wife, Princess Mabel, witnessed a 'miracle' that saw her husband open his eyes and smile at her, before falling back into a coma.

Prince Friso was initially treated at the intensive care unit of the Innsbruck State Hospital after the accident in Austria. He was later transferred to London's Wellington hospital, where he is currently being cared for.

Dutch medical experts recently said the six-month point of a coma is a critical point where up to this time there is still hope for an improvement.

A medical ethics specialist at the University of Rotterdam Erasmus Hospital said: 'The six-month point is a critical boundary. Up until that point you always hope for signs of improvement. The family will face a very difficult decision.'