Austrian Cellar Girl Wakes From Coma

by Rob Walker | May 27, 2008 at 03:20 pm | 696 views | add comment

the shame of Austria, the shame of the world

Only days after doctors thought she would die from organ failure, the 19-year-old daughter of a woman held captive in an underground dungeon woke from her coma and opened her eyes.

It may be the first time she has ever been out of the dark, reinforced and trapped cellar that she called home for her entire life. Her mother gave birth to her after being raped by her Father, and authorities suspect she may have been born and almost died there.

Read Previous NowPublic coverage here.

THE 19-year-old daughter of a woman held captive in an underground dungeon in Austria for 24 years has woken from a coma.
Kerstin Fritzl had been in a coma since late last month after she was taken to hospital from the cellar she shared with her mother, Elisabeth, and two younger brothers.

The three children were fathered by Elisabeth's father Josef Fritzl, who imprisoned them in the dungeon beneath his family home.

Doctors had feared Kerstin might die when her organs began to fail earlier this month.