Dutch royal family ask for privacy over prince in coma

A DUTCH prince hit by an avalanche while skiing off-trail in Austria last week suffered massive brain damage and may never regain consciousness, his doctors revealed yesterday.

Johan Friso, the second of Queen Beatrix’s three sons, was buried for 25 minutes before rescuers found him. It took nearly 50 minutes to resuscitate him after he was pulled from the snow, time that may have caused permanent damage according to Dr Wolfgang Koller, head of trauma at the Innsbruck hospital where he is being treated.

“It is clear that the oxygen starvation has caused massive brain damage,” Dr Koller said. “At the moment, it cannot be predicted if he will ever regain consciousness.”

Friso, 41, is married and has two young daughters. He will be moved later to a rehabilitation clinic for further treatment.

But Dr Koller cautioned that it may take years before he awakens from his coma – if ever – and any recovery from such significant brain damage is a process of “months or even years”.

Friso was skiing in Lech, Austria, despite avalanche warnings, with a childhood friend from the alpine village the Dutch royal family has been visiting each winter for years.

The friend was carrying an avalanche “air bag” and avoided serious injury. Friso was found through a signaling device he was carrying and flown by helicopter to the Innsbruck Clinic.

But “50 minutes of resuscitation is extremely long. You could say too long,” Dr Koller added.

The doctor said it had only been possible to conduct an MRI scan of Friso’s brain on Thursday.

Members of the family, including Beatrix, Friso’s older brother Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, and others have visited the hospital in a sombre vigil. His wife, Princess Mabel, has worn black.

They appealed yesterday for privacy. In a statement, the family said it “needs space to learn how to deal with Prince Friso’s health situation and to adjust their lives to it”.

Prime minister Mark Rutte’s office said he called the queen yesterday morning to say the “country sympathises deeply with the royal family in this time of concern and grief”.

The queen has said that the family has been moved by the “countless” messages of condolence and encouragement they have received.

Friso, who worked for years as an investment banker for Goldman Sachs, had previously been a relatively low-profile member of the popular royal family.

The most public period of his life before the accident came during his engagement to Mabel Wisse Smit.

She was seen by the queen as an ideal daughter-in-law.

But during her vetting to join the royal house, the pair decided not to disclose a university friendship she had with drug baron Klaas Bruinsma, who was later killed in a gangland incident.

They married without parliamentary approval, which meant Friso was cut from the line of succession.

The couple live in London with their two daughters, Luana, six, and five-year-old Zaria.