He was in a coma for 10 months: Knows nothing about coronavirus, but had it twice

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Teenager Joseph Flavill woke up from a ten-month coma and knows nothing about the COVID-19 pandemic, which he contracted twice while lying in hospital.

The 19-year-old was hit by a car in Barton upon Trent on March 1 last year, three weeks before the first lockdown was introduced in the United Kingdom.

Since then, he spent 10 months in a coma due to head injuries, but recently began to recover and became conscious.

His aunt Sally Flavill Smith told the Guardian that Joseph knows nothing about the pandemic, as he had been “asleep” for 10 months.

“I don't know where to start. If someone had told me a year ago what would all happen last year, I think I wouldn't have believed them. I don't know if Joseph will understand what has happened,” she says.

Joseph's family tried to explain to him via video call that due to measures against the spread of COVID-19, they cannot be by his side.

“When he is awake, we try to explain that we would like to be there and hold his hand, but we simply cannot. He still does not grasp the scale of the pandemic,” says Sally Flavill Smith.

The teenager, who was treated at Leicester General Hospital, has been transferred to a specialised recovery centre in Stoke-on-Trent. He has begun to voluntarily move his limbs, and communicates with his family and friends by blinking and smiling.

(CdM)