The Dutch prince Johan Friso is in a coma and may never regain consciousness, the BBC have reported. The Prince was injured in an avalanche last week. He was on a skiing holiday in the Austrian resort of Lech and was buried under snow for around 15 minutes. Nobody else was hurt in the incident.
After he was rescued, the 43 year-old Prince was rushed to hospital in Innsbruck. The doctors treating him fear that he may not recover. According to resort officials, Johan had been skiing away from the marked area when the avalanche hit just after midday last Friday (February 17, 2012). The avalanche was around 30m wide and 40m long but rescue efforts were aided by the beeper that he was wearing. Dr Wolfgang Koller told reporters that it took around 50 minutes to revive him and MRI scans have revealed "massive damage" to his brain. The expected length of his coma is unknown, but Koller explained that even if he awakes from the coma, "a neurological rehabilitation will be required that will take months, if not years." Friso's brain had been starved of oxygen and this resulted in "a heart attack that lasted 50 minutes."
Prince Johan Friso is the second son of Queen Beatrix. He is not in line for throne, however, as he married without the government's permission in 2004. Queen Beatrix has visited the Prince in hospital, as has Johan's wife, Mabel and his brothers, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Prince Constanijn.