ITALY: An Italian man who spent two years supposedly in a deep coma, and who was written off by doctors as nearly dead, has awoken saying he heard and understood everything happening around him during the ordeal, his family has said.
Salvatore Crisafulli, a father of four, is describing his case as a "miracle". His recovery has appeared to strengthen the hand of Italians opposed to end-of-life solutions. Even though the case is not medically comparable, his brother called Mr Crisafulli "an Italian Terri Schiavo case", referring to the brain-damaged Florida woman who died in March after her feeding tube was removed.
"The doctors said that I wasn't conscious, but I understood everything and I cried in desperation," Mr Crisafulli told Italian media yesterday.
He emerged from the coma, caused by a 2003 road accident, three months ago but only began speaking recently. His first word was "Mamma", his mother told the press.
News of his recovery hit Italy about the same time as a national bioethics committee defended obligatory care for unconscious patients.
"To feed an unconscious patient through a tube is not a medical act," said the committee's president, Francesco D'Agostino. "It's like giving a bottle to a newborn baby who can't be nursed by its mother." - (Reuters)