Thaindian News

London, July 14 (ANI): Richard Rudd had been declared brain dead with no chance of survival after a fatal motorbike accident.

He had always said that if anything happened to him, the last thing he would want is a life support system. So his father also gave permission for his life support system to be taken off at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.

But soon hospital staff noted that Rudd had begun to blink his eyes, and when the doctor asked him if he wanted to live, Rudd blinked ‘yes’ three times.

Now nine months on, he can move his head from side to side and smile at his family.

Professor David Menon was in charge of his care at Addenbrooke’s.

“He had severe injuries to his brain and we could not communicate with him. The outcome was thought to be very bleak indeed,” The Telegraph quoted Menon as saying.

“When, after a period of waiting, he showed voluntary movement of his eyes, everything changed,” he added.

Rudd’s case again raises the controversial case of euthanasia.

“We said that knowing Richard, there was no way in a million years that he would want to live with his injuries,” Rudd’s 60-year-old father said.

“But doctors wanted to wait a little bit longer.

“The doctor held open his eyelids and asked him to move his eyes if he could hear and was awake. He moved his eyes around, so we knew he wasn’t brain dead,” he said.

“It might not be the same Richard that we started out with, but at least he’s still coping because he still smiles when we talk about the past or when he sees his children,” he added. (ANI)