Dutch Prince in coma shows "minimal consciousness"

 THE HAGUE, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Dutch Prince Friso, who has been in a coma¹ since February this year, has shown occasional signs of minimal² consciousness, the Netherlands Government Information Service RVD reported on Monday.

The RVD emphasized that the prognosis remains³ very uncertain and that the medical team is "still very concerned." It will take many months before there is more clarity.

The Dutch royal family thanked the media for their restraint in reporting about the condition of Friso. His wife Princess Mabel expressed her feelings on Twitter. "This is the most challenging period of my life. My love for Friso, the support of family and friends, and the many signs of compassion⁴ give me strength in these difficult times," she stated.

On February 17, the now 44-year-old Prince was buried under an avalanche⁵, while he was skiing in Austria. He was covered by snow for 25 minutes and had a cardiac arrest of 50 minutes. The lack of oxygen damaged his brains. In March, he was moved to a hospital in his residence in London.

Friso is the second son of Dutch Queen Beatrix and the late Prince Claus and the younger brother of Willem-Alexander, heir of Beatrix. He and his wife have two daughters.

1 coma   

n.昏迷，昏迷状态

参考例句：

• The patient rallied from the coma.病人从昏迷中苏醒过来。
• She went into a coma after swallowing a whole bottle of sleeping pills.她吃了一整瓶安眠药后就昏迷过去了。

2 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

5 avalanche   

n.雪崩，大量涌来

参考例句：

• They were killed by an avalanche in the Swiss Alps.他们在瑞士阿尔卑斯山的一次雪崩中罹难。
• Higher still the snow was ready to avalanche.在更高处积雪随时都会崩塌。