Prince Friso in Critical Condition Following Skiing Accident: February 17, 2012


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the treatment would have stopped for everybody because the healthcare can not carry the cost. In Holland we all go to the same hospitals except for plastic surgery, that can be done for cosmetic reasons at private clinics. Perhaps there are private clinics who keep people in coma longer alive than a hospital would be I have not heard of them.
Having said this I do believe the royals are more are more able to do what they want than a regular person but it might cause controversy.
As it is Friso is in London because that is where he and his family live.I do not understand why Hellen dupuis felt the need to tell people what would happen in holland since he is not here.

A senator said on Dutch radio that if Friso would have been hospitalised in the Netherlands, his treatment would have been stopped.
Google Vertalen
 
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the treatment would have stopped for everybody because the healthcare can not carry the cost. In Holland we all go to the same hospitals except for plastic surgery, that can be done for cosmetic reasons at private clinics. Perhaps there are private clinics who keep people in coma longer alive than a hospital would be I have not heard of them.
Having said this I do believe the royals are more are more able to do what they want than a regular person but it might cause controversy.
As it is Friso is in London because that is where he and his family live.I do not understand why Hellen dupuis felt the need to tell people what would happen in holland since he is not here.

I agree with you. Mabel and the girls live in London, work (or worked) in London, and go to school in London. London seemed the obvious choice for the moment.

We don't really know why London was chosen, however. In the U.S. sometimes there is no room at a given moment for another patient at such a facility, so another facility in another area must be chosen. For all we know, a Dutch facility was sought, or and they could not take him.
 
The Wellington Hospital is one of the worlds best in dealing with injuries such as Friso's. There was no hospital in The Netherlands that deals with such injuries. London also made sense because that is where he and his family lived and of course is within easy traveling distance for his mother and other family.
 
Are the Dutch taxpayers paying for Friso's treatment in London?
 
madrid said:
Are the Dutch taxpayers paying for Friso's treatment in London?

Probably not, and it seems rather tasteless to bring up that question as it pertains to someone's medical care.
 
A senator said on Dutch radio that if Friso would have been hospitalised in the Netherlands, his treatment would have been stopped.
Google Vertalen

There was a discussion earlier on in the thread (when the accident happened) why he wont be hospitalized in the Netherlands and the way they handle such situations & their approach to life support & removing it. I think thats one of the reasons they moved him to London.
 
A senator said on Dutch radio that if Friso would have been hospitalised in the Netherlands, his treatment would have been stopped.
Google Vertalen
I understand the senator is Prof. Dr Dupuis, vice-chairman of a university hospitals medical-ethics board and the comment was made during an interview covering broad issues regarding such issues. Did anyone of our dutch posters listen to the interview?
 
I, suspect, that the Dutch hospitals do not, believe, in extended animation.
 
I did not hear it but here is a newspaper article about the interview, it is still unclear to me whether she was specifically asked about Friso or she just volenteered her opinion about his situation.

Elsevier.nl - Nederland - VVD-senator: In Nederland was Friso opgegeven

the discussion was about the use of expensive medication for rare diseases, in Holland everyone is insured for medical care, also the unemployed and everyone receives the same medical care. It is about financing the system.

If you can afford it some people chose to go to the USA or another country if they find a hospital or a specialist that might save their life. I know 3 people for whom this has worked out.
 
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If you can afford it some people chose to go to the USA or another country if they find a hospital or a specialist that might save their life. I know 3 people for whom this has worked out.

True, but a lot of people leave the Netherlands to receive treatment not offered here. Like that boy Jelle or in this case prince Friso. The benefit here is also that his family lives in London.
To me it seems hospitals in the US are wonderful, but there is a far smaller part of the population that can benefit from it. Our hospitals are not as good, but everyone can benefit. I prefer the last.
 
True, but a lot of people leave the Netherlands to receive treatment not offered here. Like that boy Jelle or in this case prince Friso. The benefit here is also that his family lives in London.
To me it seems hospitals in the US are wonderful, but there is a far smaller part of the population that can benefit from it. Our hospitals are not as good, but everyone can benefit. I prefer the last.

They both serve a purpose. It is good that everyone gets care. As for Friso, I think it might have been an act of kindness, the Dutch way.
 
Antoin Peters, reporter from RTL Nieuws, has written a column about the six months that have gone by since Prince Friso was buried under an avalanche in Lech, Austria. Next Friday it will be six months since the accident.
It is an interesting read I think. It is in Dutch but perhaps you can use Google Translate.

Link:

RTL Nieuws - "Na half jaar weten we niets nieuws over toestand Friso"
 
Can you tell us what it says. I can make out only bits of it, my Duct is, almost, non-existent.
 
"After six months, we know nothing new about state Friso"


Royal reporter Antoin Peeters looks back on the tragic accident of Prince Friso in Lech, already half a year ago.
Do you remember? Friday, February 17, just before half past three in the afternoon. Austrian media suddenly report that someone "of Niederländischer Köningfamilie" is buried under an avalanche in Lech. The RTL editorial team in Hilversum explodes and from then the news items tumble, confirmed and unconfirmed, over each other. It soon becomes clear that it is Prince Friso.

For days no change
After a prolonged resuscitation, he was transferred unconscious from Lech to the Landeskrankenhaus in Innsbruck, a university hospital where they have extensive experience with skiers who long have lain under the snow. The GIS reports for days that there is no change to report in the health of the prince. And that's still true. Friso's in a coma, next Friday August 17th, ​​already six months.

Almost 10 days we were with a large team of RTL in Innsbruck and Lech. Colleague Jeroen Wetzels was there from the beginning. He happened to ski in Austria that Friday afternoon and was picked from the slopes, pushed into a car of friends: one way Innsbruck. At half past seven he can report live, I presented that evening, former royal reporter Sandra Schuurhof tells from the editors about Prince Friso, it is her last day at RTL, how bizarre.

We know anything at the time
Meanwhile, camera people, technicians, editors and reporters are flown to Austria. Too much? No idea, we know nothing at that time, how long will it take? How bad is this? One thing we know for sure: it is a great historic event for the Netherlands and everyone is talking about it.
The now familiar sight from that huge hospital in Innsbruck: I have been there for days. Carefully directed, twice a day, there is a coming and going of bereaved members of the Royal Family. The red and white ribbon for the press is drawn and a little later come the cars. Through gossip we hear every time who come to visit this time.

The Royal Family allows it
Many people have criticized us every time we shoot pictures, "Leave them alone." But the press is properly enabled to register the arrivals of the Royal Family and allows it consciously, the mourning is thus shared with the millions of Dutch viewers. Once they take the back entrance, when the children of Friso and Mabel are around.
Once the RVD asks to leave the family alone, we do that. That is after the dramatic press conference, Dr. Koller on Friday afternoon. We still show shots of the Wellington Hospital in London, where Prince Friso will eventually go, but that's it. Up to this day.

We still know nothing
And now, six months after the avalanche, we still know nothing. Not only we, journalists, but also the family of Prince Friso know nothing. Because that's the terrible reality from a coma. If you are looking for it on the Internet, you're downright sad.
I have the clear, but chilly description of the Brain Foundation summed up: "Someone who is in a coma is unconscious. He sees nothing, hears nothing and feels nothing. A part of the brains will not work anymore. A very deep coma begins. Someone does not make sense. He must get his food through a drip. Some people can not breathe itself. They lie on a respirator. This deep coma can last a few hours or up to two months. "

It seems as if patient responds
"Is someone after one or two months not conscious yet, the deep coma turns into a coma vigil. In a coma vigil it seems as if the patient responds. He opens his eyes, he is chewing, swallowing and yawning. He responds to pain, light and sound. He has a day and night rhythm again. He sometimes makes uncontrolled movements. But he makes no real contact with the world around them. He recognizes nobody. His reactions are merely reflexes. A coma vigil could take years. Doctors call it a vegetative state.

No telling how long it takes
"Nobody can predict how long a coma lasts. Doctors don't know too. Some people are soon awake again. Others remain in a coma for months or even years and then awake. Others still remain in coma until death." This is the dramatic situation the Royal Family faces, a difficult task.
And this is no ordinary family that can deal with this difficult situationcin peace, this is the Royal Family. The work, with dozens of public appearances, continues. Crown Prince Willem-Alexander tells early July, during the annual photo shoot, that it is not always easy. The understatement of the century, in my eyes!

Appointments are not canceled
I would have said to all those well-intentioned companies, organizations, foundations and associations: "Sorry, we were happy to come, but not now." And there would be understanding, nothing but understanding, I'm sure. Yet the Royal Family choose the difficult path of duty. All appointments go ahead, appointments are seldom canceled. And so we see the Queen, the Crown Prince and his wife are everywhere and nowhere. Chapeau!
Even Queensday with the rest of the family goes ahead. In Veenendaal, Queen Beatrix in her parting word refers to the difficult situation, you see the members of her family fighting back tears. It's a hot day, but I get a few chills.
 
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Probably not, and it seems rather tasteless to bring up that question as it pertains to someone's medical care.
I actually think it's a reasonable question as the family's choice to have Friso kept on life support while profoundly brain damaged could run to millions, depending on how long this continues.
 
^^^^^
I don't think financial costs really come into it. I would assume his company had him very well insured (there have kept him on salary all this time) in addition to what might be covered by state health care, and he and his family are not exactly short of euros.
 
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You're right. This is a private facility and I do not think the state health care will contribute, but I could be wrong.
 
i really enjoyed reading the part of the article called "Appointments are not canceled". it shows how much support and appreciation the RF is getting in these difficult circumstances.
i also liked seeing maxima and WA with friso's daughters at the olympics. they obviously seem a very close-knit family and its lovely to see how they support mabel and to give her some quiet time to be on her own and reflect on the situation.
 
At this exact moment, 6 months ago, the nightmare began for Prince Friso and the Royal Family. I am praying for them today. I hope this nightmare won't continue much longer...
 
it is a private matter, for all we know he might live for another 25 years like sunny von bulow
 
Indeed. I cant imagine anything worse for either myself, my spouse or our child.
 
Since nothing has been said about Prince Friso condition, one can assume that his condition is basically the same. If something dramatically changes, then there might be some news about his condition.
 
As its been nearly six months since the terrible accident I was looking through some of the news reports of the accident at the time and found this from the British daily telegraph

Dr Andy Eynon, a consultant in neurosciences intensive care and the director of major trauma at Southampton Universities NHS Trust, said it was "routine" to transfer coma patients from an accident abroad back to their country of residence.
But he said it normally took months to determine how well a patient with a severe brain injury might recover.
"You can't say somebody is in a persistent vegetative state until six months after an injury involving lack of oxygen to the brain, or 12 months after a trauma injury to the brain.

Therefore maybe there will be some developments soon given we are now going over the 6 months mark. I imagine everyday still hurts for the royal family
 
I, believe, the only thing that has been questioned, right or wrong is that he has been kept on a respirator, the entire time and is not in a viable form of life. When a patient is in a coma, but is able to breathe on their own, is quite different.
 
I suppose the question, after discussion with the doctors, becomes who in the family will raise the subject of cutting off life support first. Does Beatrix go to Mabel and say the time has come or does Mabel go to Beatrix. Either way it has got to be incredibly difficult to be the one to act first.
 
I am sure the treating doctors meet with the family on regular intervals. Maybe not daily but more than monthly.
 
I suppose the question, after discussion with the doctors, becomes who in the family will raise the subject of cutting off life support first. Does Beatrix go to Mabel and say the time has come or does Mabel go to Beatrix. Either way it has got to be incredibly difficult to be the one to act first.

I, believe, it is Mabel's decision, no one elses.
 
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