Dutch prince in coma after avalanche - doctors say he may never wake up - Polidicks

[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17153623[/url] [quote=BBC News][b]Dutch Prince Johan Friso, injured in an avalanche last week, is in a coma and may never regain consciousness, doctors treating him in Austria say.[/b] Prince Friso, who had been on a skiing holiday in the Austrian resort of Lech, lay buried under snow for about 15 minutes before being rescued. He was taken to hospital in Innsbruck after the accident, in which nobody else was hurt. The prince, 43, is the second son of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. However, he is not in line for the throne since marrying in 2004 without the government's permission. Queen Beatrix and the prince's wife, Mabel, have been to visit him at Innsbruck's University Hospital, as have his brothers, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Prince Constantijn. A friend of the prince who was skiing with him at the time of the avalanche has been questioned by police. [b]'Heart attack'[/b] He had been skiing with between one and three other people off the marked pistes when the avalanche hit shortly after midday local time last Friday, said resort officials. He was buried by an avalanche reportedly measuring about 30m (yds) wide by 40m long. A beeper he was wearing allowed rescuers to locate him quickly. Speaking to reporters in Innsbruck, Dr Wolfgang Koller said it had taken nearly 50 minutes to revive the prince. MRI scans have shown his brain suffered "massive damage'' in the avalanche. The prince will be moved at a later date to a private clinic for further treatment but it may take years before he awakens, if ever, the doctor said. "We cannot say today with certainty whether Prince Friso will one day regain consciousness," added Dr Koller, who is head of the trauma unit at the hospital. "In any case, a neurological rehabilitation will be required that will take months, if not years." The doctor explained that the prince's brain had been deprived of oxygen due to the amount of time spent under the snow. "This resulted in a heart attack that lasted about 50 minutes.... "Fifty minutes of reanimation is very, very long, one might even say too long. "Our hope was that the patient's mild hypothermia would provide some protection for the brain. This hope was not realised." The Dutch royal family regularly spends skiing holidays in Lech, in the western Vorarlberg province of Austria. Florian Moosbrugger, owner of the hotel where the royal family stays, had been skiing with the prince, a childhood friend. He survived the incident unscathed, having worn an avalanche airbag, and reportedly dug his friend out with his own hands and called the emergency services, the Austrian Times reports. He has been questioned by police seeking to establish which of the skiers went down the slope first, and how the avalanche began. Mr Moosbrugger, who could reportedly face charges of "unintentional grievous bodily harm in particularly dangerous circumstances", says he is totally innocent. According to his mother Kristl, Queen Beatrix herself comforted him after he was questioned. Kristl Moosbrugger has defended her son. "No avalanche was coming downhill," she told Austrian broadcaster ORF. "There were also strong skiing traces in the snow. They felt sure."[/quote]

Said it before, will say it again. As much as this sucks it could easily have been avoided if he hadn't ignored warnings or made the stupid mistake of not wearing that airbag backpack. :smith:

I couldn't help but think of the Beatles Ticket to Ride music video.

Woah, you mean that thing that happens to people all over the world every day happened to someone else? Holy shit. Good thing you made a thread. Edit: I forgot that unimportant people in a monarchy are revered, and that that they are important, and that they have a large role in the government, and that his tragic accident is sensationalist because of those reasons. I am obviously wrong that this event deserves more attention than others of similar or worse circumstances and am a complete asshat for thinking otherwise.

[QUOTE=VeniVidiVici74;34852629]Woah, you mean that thing that happens to people all over the world every day happened to someone else? Holy shit. Good thing you made a thread.[/QUOTE] Except he's a person of importance. have some respect, you asshole.

[QUOTE=VeniVidiVici74;34852629]Woah, you mean that thing that happens to people all over the world every day happened to someone else? Holy shit. Good thing you made a thread.[/QUOTE] Wow what a badass.

[QUOTE=VeniVidiVici74;34852629]Woah, you mean that thing that happens to people all over the world every day happened to someone else? Holy shit. Good thing you made a thread.[/QUOTE] He's an important figure in the Netherlands, and no one wants their royalty dying on them, it's kind of a bad thing.

[QUOTE=VeniVidiVici74;34852629]Woah, you mean that thing that happens to people all over the world every day happened to someone else? Holy shit. Good thing you made a thread.[/QUOTE] oh jesus christ you missed the point completely

[QUOTE=VeniVidiVici74;34852629]Woah, you mean that thing that happens to people all over the world every day happened to someone else? Holy shit. Good thing you made a thread.[/QUOTE] Lord knows what happens if you show sympathy.

[QUOTE=hoodoo456;34852661]Except he's a person of importance. have some respect, you asshole.[/QUOTE] I agree with having respect for our prince, but he is not any more important than any other person in my opinion, just because he is a prince (without rights to the throne even).

All he needs is a Princess to kiss him.

[QUOTE=VeniVidiVici74;34852629]Woah, you mean that thing that happens to people all over the world every day happened to someone else? Holy shit. Good thing you made a thread.[/QUOTE] I suppose that's one way of thinking about it. You would have to be a complete desensitized bastard to really believe that though.

Why do countries make a big deal out of royal families anyway? Genuinely curious.

Please, stop. I've heard enough about the damn prince dying already. It's being screamed on every TV and radio station every-damn-where in the Netherlands. Why are giving more then two shits anyway?

[QUOTE=Sifflix;34852923]Please, stop. I've heard enough about the damn prince dying already. It's being screamed on every TV and radio station every-damn-where in the Netherlands. Why are giving more then two shits anyway?[/QUOTE] Because, he's famous, and may be in a coma for the rest of his life. [editline]24th February 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Natrox;34852760]I agree with having respect for our prince, but he is not any more important than any other person in my opinion, just because he is a prince (without rights to the throne even).[/QUOTE] I didn't mean to imply he was more important than anyone else, And i realize i could have worded what i said better. I don't value his life over others, i just said it badly.

[QUOTE=GetBent;34852885]Why do countries make a big deal out of royal families anyway? Genuinely curious.[/QUOTE] Well, for the UK keeping our queen costs a fraction of the tourism profits, combined with the cultural reasons. I really hope that he recovers from the coma. This is for the UK royal family, but I imagine it's much the same. [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhyYgnhhKFw&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/url]

It was pretty obvious he wasn't really gonna get better. The media kept saying he was "[I]Not[/I] out of life-threatening danger".

God damnit I hate monarchies. Oh wow, Sweden got a new princess. Fucking wow.

[QUOTE=GetBent;34852885]Why do countries make a big deal out of royal families anyway? Genuinely curious.[/QUOTE] It's usually a part of a countries traditions and culture, and we tend to make a big fuss about it because why the hell not.

This might sound harsh, but I think it might've been better if they just let him die. If he ever wakes up, he probably won't be able to do anything but sit there, paralysed from top to bottom, doing nothing. His heart didn't beat for 50 minutes, can you imagine that? As the doctors have said, he also hasn't reacted to anything for a whole week, so the chance of him ever recovering to full health is close to zero. It's a real tragedy.

[QUOTE=Terminutter;34852999]Well, for the UK keeping our queen costs a fraction of the tourism profits, combined with the cultural reasons. I really hope that he recovers from the coma. This is for the UK royal family, but I imagine it's much the same. [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhyYgnhhKFw&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/url][/QUOTE] Most other countries spend a lot less on their monarchies, but ours has the benefit of the royal estates, which according to George Osbourne generates £500 million a year. I don't know if that is the same for the Netherlands since we struck a deal with a monarch hundreds of years ago to generate that money which the Netherlands probably never did. [editline]24th February 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Dlaor-guy;34853453]This might sound harsh, but I think it might've been better if they just let him die. If he ever wakes up, he probably won't be able to do anything but sit there, paralysed from top to bottom, doing nothing. As the doctors have said, he hasn't reacted to anything for a whole week, so the chance of him ever recovering to full health is close to zero. It's a real tragedy.[/QUOTE] Can't really do that without his consent.

You go back country or off piste, you wear up to date avalanche gear... it should be the law. An avalanche probe is nothing compared to recent gear that's out, such as the avalanche airbag... [B]But holy fuck, the fact that someone could be facing charges for accidentally triggering an avalanche is the biggest fucking joke.[/B] There is no way someone should be charged with anything, even if they triggered a deadly avalanche. They were a group, knowingly went out of bounds of the avalanche blasted areas to ski, knew the risks, and accepted them - he shouldn't be punished anymore than he has already been by losing a friend.

[QUOTE=ewitwins;34852717]He's an important figure in the Netherlands, and no one wants their royalty dying on them, it's kind of a bad thing.[/QUOTE] He's not that important, and I don't really care.

Good night, sweet prince.

[QUOTE=mobrockers2;34853581]He's not that important, and I don't really care.[/QUOTE] If you don't care then don't read it?

[QUOTE=GetBent;34852885]Why do countries make a big deal out of royal families anyway? Genuinely curious.[/QUOTE] Because it generates income. Tourists are suckers for royalty.

[QUOTE=Garik;34853352]God damnit I hate monarchies. Oh wow, Sweden got a new princess. Fucking wow.[/QUOTE] Most modern monarchies in developed countries are for cultural reasons and tourism.

[QUOTE=carcarcargo;34853596]If you don't care then don't read it?[/QUOTE] I'm Dutch, I was simply responding to his statement, he's royal yes, important, no. [editline]25th February 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Natrox;34852760]I agree with having respect for our prince, but he is not any more important than any other person in my opinion, just because he is a prince (without rights to the throne even).[/QUOTE] He does (well, did) have rights to the throne. He's like 8 in line or something.

Are they going to actually give him the years it might take to regain consciousness?

[QUOTE=Nikita;34853745]Are they going to actually give him the years it might take to regain consciousness?[/QUOTE] Probably. It's not like his mum can't afford it :v: But he still won't be able to do anything even if he regains consciousness.