Dutch prince who suffered massive brain damage in avalanche 'may never regain consciousness', A Dutch prince struck by an avalanche while skiing off-trail in Austria last week suffered massive brain damage and may never regain consciousness, doctors said today.
Johan Friso, 43, is the second son of the Netherlands' monarch Queen Beatrix.
Dr Wolfgang Koller, head of trauma at the Innsbruck hospital where Friso is being treated, said at a news conference broadcast live on Dutch national television that it took nearly 50 minutes to reanimate the prince after he was pulled from the snow.He said: 'It is clear that the oxygen starvation has caused massive brain damage to the patient.
'At the moment, it cannot be predicted if he will ever regain consciousness.'
Friso, who is married and has two young daughters, will be moved at a later date to a private rehabilitation clinic for further treatment.
But Dr Koller cautioned that it may take years before he awakens from his coma, if he ever does.The prince was skiing with one companion away from marked ski runs on February 17 when the mass of snow, 30metres wide and 40 meters long
He was pulled unconscious from the drift about 20 minutes after the incident and resuscitated at the scene. He was then airlifted to the university clinic in Innsbruck.
His condition was at first described as 'stable but life-threatening', and the queen and his wife were at his sideStefan Jochum, a spokesman for the Lech ski area where the accident occurred, last week said the incident took place as the prince and other skiers were on slopes away from the marked Lech ski runs.
The trails were laden with snow after weeks of record falls.
Mr Jochum said: 'A snow slide came down and the prince was buried as the only member of the group.'
Members of the royal family were skiing in the mountain village of Lech, which had been hit by heavy snowfall in the run-up to last Friday.
The second of Beatrix's three sons, Friso gave up any claim to the Dutch throne in order to marry Dutch commoner Mabel Wisse Smit, in 2004. The pair have two daughters, Emma and Joanna.
He most recently worked as financial director at Urenco, the European uranium-enrichment consortium.The crucial moment in his life as a member of the Dutch nobility came with his 2003 engagement to then-commoner Wisse Smit.
After the pair announced their intention to marry in 2003, Dutch media revealed that Wisse Smit's previous friendships included contacts while she was in college with a well-known figure in the Dutch underworld, a drug dealer who was later slain.
The couple publicly acknowledged having been 'naive and incomplete' during her vetting process before joining the royal family. Then-Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende signalled he could not recommend the marriage to parliament for approval.
They married anyway, a decision that meant Friso's removal from the line of succession.
The couple are still part of Beatrix's family and attend important royal functions.
Mabel has been granted the title 'Princess Mabel' and Friso has an array of noble titles, including 'Prince of Oranje-Nassau' - but not 'Prince of the Netherlands'.
Johan Friso, 43, is the second son of the Netherlands' monarch Queen Beatrix.
Dr Wolfgang Koller, head of trauma at the Innsbruck hospital where Friso is being treated, said at a news conference broadcast live on Dutch national television that it took nearly 50 minutes to reanimate the prince after he was pulled from the snow.He said: 'It is clear that the oxygen starvation has caused massive brain damage to the patient.
'At the moment, it cannot be predicted if he will ever regain consciousness.'
Friso, who is married and has two young daughters, will be moved at a later date to a private rehabilitation clinic for further treatment.
But Dr Koller cautioned that it may take years before he awakens from his coma, if he ever does.The prince was skiing with one companion away from marked ski runs on February 17 when the mass of snow, 30metres wide and 40 meters long
He was pulled unconscious from the drift about 20 minutes after the incident and resuscitated at the scene. He was then airlifted to the university clinic in Innsbruck.
His condition was at first described as 'stable but life-threatening', and the queen and his wife were at his sideStefan Jochum, a spokesman for the Lech ski area where the accident occurred, last week said the incident took place as the prince and other skiers were on slopes away from the marked Lech ski runs.
The trails were laden with snow after weeks of record falls.
Mr Jochum said: 'A snow slide came down and the prince was buried as the only member of the group.'
Members of the royal family were skiing in the mountain village of Lech, which had been hit by heavy snowfall in the run-up to last Friday.
The second of Beatrix's three sons, Friso gave up any claim to the Dutch throne in order to marry Dutch commoner Mabel Wisse Smit, in 2004. The pair have two daughters, Emma and Joanna.
He most recently worked as financial director at Urenco, the European uranium-enrichment consortium.The crucial moment in his life as a member of the Dutch nobility came with his 2003 engagement to then-commoner Wisse Smit.
After the pair announced their intention to marry in 2003, Dutch media revealed that Wisse Smit's previous friendships included contacts while she was in college with a well-known figure in the Dutch underworld, a drug dealer who was later slain.
The couple publicly acknowledged having been 'naive and incomplete' during her vetting process before joining the royal family. Then-Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende signalled he could not recommend the marriage to parliament for approval.
They married anyway, a decision that meant Friso's removal from the line of succession.
The couple are still part of Beatrix's family and attend important royal functions.
Mabel has been granted the title 'Princess Mabel' and Friso has an array of noble titles, including 'Prince of Oranje-Nassau' - but not 'Prince of the Netherlands'.