A British teenager is slowly emerging from a coma nearly a year after being hit by a car, and he has no knowledge of the coronavirus pandemic even though he has caught the virus twice.
Joseph Flavill, 19, suffered a traumatic brain injury when he was hit by the car in the central English town of Burton-on-Trent on March 1 last year, about three weeks before a first national lockdown was imposed to curb the spread of the virus.
During that time his family has been largely unable to be near him and hold his hand due to coronavirus restrictions, mostly trying to communicate with him via video link.
“Recently Joseph has started to show small signs of recovery, which we are thrilled about… We know now he can hear us, he responds to small commands,” his aunt, Sally Flavill, told Reuters.
“When we say to him ‘Joseph, we can’t be with you, but you are safe, this is not going to be forever’, he understands, he hears you, he just can’t communicate,” she said, adding that he now…
