NOTTINGHAM, England (Reuters) – A British teenager is slowly coming out of a coma almost a year after being hit by a car, and he has no knowledge of the coronavirus pandemic, even though he contracted the virus twice .
Joseph Flavill, 19, suffered a traumatic brain injury when he was hit by a car in the central English city of Burton-on-Trent on March 1 last year, about three weeks before a first national lock-up was instituted to spread the word. virus.
During that time, his family was largely unable to be near him and hold his hand due to coronavirus restrictions, mostly trying to link it via a video link.
“Recently, Joseph started showing small signs of recovery, which we are very happy about … We now know he can hear us, he responds to small commands,” his aunt, Sally Flavill, told Reuters.
“When we tell him ‘Joseph, we can not be with you, but you are safe, it’s not going to be forever’, he understands, he hears you, he just can not communicate,” she said. said. that he now indicated ‘yes’ with a wink and ‘no’ with two nods.
Since Joseph’s crash, Britain has registered nearly four million COVID-19 cases, including more than 110,000 deaths, in a pandemic that has overturned life worldwide, closing schools, universities, shops and many other places.
“I do not know how Joseph will ever understand our stories of this obstruction,” his aunt said, adding that he was still very ill and experiencing a ‘very, very long journey’ in a normal life.
Joseph, who was a keen sportsman before the accident, is now receiving treatment at a care center in Stoke-on-Trent, central England, and his family has started a fundraising campaign https://www.josephsjourney.co.uk to to help support its long-term recovery.
(Reported by Reuters Television; Written by Gareth Jones; Edited by Mike Collett-White)