LONDON
A 30 year old Hillsborough soccer stadium victim who has emerged from a permanent vegetative state (PVS) did not show signs of consciousness for more than five years after the disaster, his parents disclosed yesterday.
Mr Andrew Devine, who suffered severe brain damage when he was crushed in the 1989 football tragedy at Sheffield Wednesday's stadium, has been in need of constant support and attention ever since.
His parents, Stanley and Margaret, refused to stop the artificial feeding which is keeping their son alive despite the example of another Hillsborough victim, whose case paved the way for a "right to die" judgment in the House of lords.
Issuing a statement through their solicitor, Mr Robin Makin, the Devines yesterday explained: "Andrew began to emerge from the vegetative state about five years after his diagnosis and has continued to improve in his ability to communicate at a simple level using a touch sensitive buzzer switch developed by the Royal Hospital.
"His ability to recover further is unknown. A proper care regime, including substantial physiotherapy, has been involved to ensure that Andrew has the best care reasonably available."
His emergence from PVS was revealed by the Guardian newspaper yesterday. Mr Makin has described the extent of the change in Andrew's condition, compared to his previous state, as being "chalk and cheese" in medical terms.
It was the case of another Hillsborough victim, Mr Tony Bland, which paved the way for a series of "right to die" cases involving victims of what was thought to be irreversible brain damage.
The change in Mr Devine's condition will fuel the controversy about what constitutes PVS and about the precision of its diagnosis.
One specialist who treated Mr Devine said yesterday that the case was the most extraordinary he had ever studied. Dr Keith Andrews acknowledged that it was bound to cause anxiety for families of other patients in vegetative states.