Teen Wakes Up After Unknowingly Battling COVID-19 Twice While in Coma He Slipped Into Before Pandemic Began

A teenager who was in a coma for 11 months during the coronavirus pandemic has finally woken up, with no idea that he’s had COVID-19 twice, Yahoo News reported. Joseph Flavill, 19, was hit by a car in England at the beginning of March, before news of the pandemic began spreading. He slipped into a coma after suffering a brain injury.

During that time, he caught COVID-19 once. When he woke up, he was diagnosed with the coronavirus again but has since recovered. Although Flavill is not speaking yet, he is smiling and opening his eyes, according to the outlet. 

While his mother is the only person who could visit him in a coma, he is now seeing his family on FaceTime.

"At first his eyes were open but he wasn't responding to anything, but over the last few weeks he's taken amazing steps,” his aunt Sally Flavill-Smith said, according to Yahoo News.

Because he slept through the pandemic thus far, his family said they aren’t sure how much he understands about lockdown and the pandemic. His mother says it may be hard for him to understand. 

"He's only ever going to understand it through our ability to describe it, and through news stories. The horror," Sharon Flavill, told CNN. "So many people have said it's like sitting watching a sci-fi film, isn't it? You couldn't write the pandemic as a film."

His family has set up a website, Joseph’s Journey, for him and they’ve raised thousands for his treatment.

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