Prince Friso suffers from massive brain damage
Today, 24 February 2012, Prince Friso’s doctors called a press conference at the Landeskrankenhaus in Innsbruck, Austria, to give more information about his diagnosis and prognosis. They didn’t have good news, however. Prince Friso suffered massive brain damage and is unlikely to ever recover.
It was both a surprise – because an announcement was not expected until the weekend – and a highly anticipated moment: the press conference called by Prince Friso’s doctors at the Landeskrankenhaus in Innsbruck, Austria, where they would give more information about the Prince’s condition. The press turned up en masse, the Royal family decided not to make any statements and didn’t attend.
At noon, two doctors and a translator arrived at the scene. The press conference was given in German, the translator repeated everything in Dutch, every few sentences.
The doctors explained that Prince Friso had been under the snow for some 25 minutes – a lot longer than the 15 or 20 minutes that circulated at first. He had suffered from a cardiac arrest due to prolonged lack of oxygen and had to be resuscitated. Resuscitation took around 50 minutes, “maybe too long”, as one of the doctors remarked. Altogether this may mean that the Prince was deprived of oxygen for over an hour. However, the doctors had hoped that his low body temperature – 32°C – would have protected his body from major damage. A body at low temperature can survive longer with less oxygen.
The doctors kept Prince Friso in a coma for 6 days, and then slowly started to heat up his body to normal temperature. They did an MRI scan yesterday, the first possible moment they wouldn’t be putting the Prince in danger by doing that. The scan showed that the Prince had suffered massive brain damage. The doctors are now unsure if Prince Friso will ever wake up from his coma. If he does, rehabilitation will take months, if not years.
The press conference ended in a shocked silence.
The royal family are now looking for a rehabilitation centre where Friso can be taken care of. It is unclear whether he will be transported to the UK, where he and his family live, or to the Netherlands.
Queen Beatrix has cancelled all her appointments for next week, even though she will travel back to the Netherlands during the weekend. Prince WillemAlexander, too, will make a short trip to the Netherlands next week. Both will return to Austria, where the whole family will remain for another week at least.
In the mean time, the Austrian police have started an investigation into the accident. They have interrogated Florian Moosbrugger, the friend who accompanied Prince Friso on his fatal descent. Moosbrugger was wearing a type of airbag anti-avalanche device, which kept him afloat. He managed to free himself, call the rescue services and started digging for the Prince immediately. The police are investigating if Moosbrugger can be indicted for negligence. This is a standard investigation after an avalance accident.
The Government Information Service (Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst) announced that the Dutch royal family “need[s] to come to terms with the Prince’s situation, and to reorganise their lives accordingly. The Royal Family therefore requests the media to give them the space to do so by respecting their privacy.”
Read the full declaration made by the doctors in German, Dutch or English here.
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Matterhorn - 24 February 2012
Very sad news.
Aafke en Floor - 26 February 2012
Me and my mothers extend our thoughts and prayer to the Dutch Royal family. Prince Frisco is a strong man who loves his wife, daughters, mother and brothers too much not to fight. Continue being the strong family you are and who we are so proud of. He WILL beat this because he has all of YOU, a wonderful family and support system.
Ineke de Grussa-Troost - 29 March 2012
Dear Sir, Prince Frisco,
Stay strong, you will get through this, you have a fantastic family by your side, and as I, a ex-Hollander, wish you a very speedy recovery, you are young and strong.
You must recover, and you will walk your daughters down the aisle, when they are old enough, that alone will speed you to a recovery. All the best Sir.