A British teenager recently woke up from a year-old coma with no knowledge of the global coronavirus pandemic.
The boy was hospitalized on March 1, three weeks before the country entered its first blockade.
Reuters reports how Joseph Flavill, 19, suffered a traumatic brain injury in the English city of Burton-on-Trent. According to a fundraising page launched by his family, “In May 2020, Joseph should attend Buckingham Palace to receive his Golden Duke of Edinburgh award … On March 1, 2020, 18 years of laughter and energy came to an abrupt halt … “
Due to the safety precautions of COVID-19, his family was restricted to visiting him personally during his hospitalization and they were only able to see him by video. WPXI News claims that only his mother was allowed to visit him, being almost two meters away.
While in a coma, Flavill even caught the coronavirus twice. Now, almost a year since the pandemic broke out, Flavill is beginning to show signs of healing with no real knowledge of what life has been like with the disease.
“Joseph has recently started showing little signs of recovery, which we are excited about,” Flavill’s aunt Sally tells Reuters. “We now know that he can hear us, he responds to small commands. When we say to him, ‘Joseph, we cannot be with you, but you are safe, it will not last forever’, he understands, listens to you, just cannot communicate ”.
“I don’t know how Joseph will understand our stories about this confinement,” continues his aunt. Further updates on Flavill’s recovery remain pending.