Saudi ‘Sleeping Prince’ Moves His Head After 14-Year-Long Coma

A file photo in a hospital. (Gerry Broome/AP)

A Saudi royal who has been in a coma for the past 14 years moved his head for the first time, according to a video.

The Khaleej Times reported that Princess Rima bint Talal, daughter of Saudi billionaire and noted Twitter investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, posted a clip of her cousin, Prince Waleed bin Khaled, moving his head.

Rima said he was “shaking his head” from side to side, according to a translation of a statement she made on Twitter on May 25.

It was the first movement they'd seen in about 14 years, the report said.

The prince slipped into a coma following a car accident in 2005.

According to The Royal Forums, elaborating on his condition, “Prince Al Waleed, who is the eldest son of Prince Khalid, suffered traumatic injury following a traffic accident, causing him to be in a coma for a decade. His mother is Princess Jazzi, the daughter of the late King Saud bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia.”

He is known in the Arab media world as the “Sleeping Prince,” referring to his comatose state.

“Since the tragic accident, he has been lying in hospital under the help of life support machines surrounded by the love and care of his family. Although doctors said the young Prince is suffering from a rare medical condition of brain death, his parents have refused to stop the life support machines. They are hoping and praying for their beloved son to recover soon,” the website says.

In late 2018, the prince’s father, Prince Khaled bin Talal, was freed by the Saudi government after being detained for months. After being released, he visited his comatose son, photos of which were shared by Reem, according to the BBC in a report at the time.

Other details about the coma are not clear.

Hope?

Last month, it was reported that a woman from the United Arab Emirates woke up from a 27-year-long coma.

Munira Abdulla was involved in a car crash in 1991 while driving her son home from school in the United Arab Emirates.

She had suffered a serious brain injury, while her son escaped mostly unscathed, NBC News reported.

The woman was treated in the U.A.E., the United Kingdom, and Germany. However, doctors never believed she would wake up.

Abdulla finally emerged from her coma in June of last year, and her family went public with the story in April of this year.

“I just never, ever gave up hope. The only thing you have is hope,” her son told The Sun in May 2019. “I slept by my mother’s side every night in hospital dreaming that she would wake up. She is my mother and, like most people, you would do anything and everything you can for her.”