SYDNEY (AP) — A 10-year-old Australian boy who was seriously injured two weeks ago when two helicopters collided, killing four people, had woken up from a coma in hospital holding his hand father, said a family priest.
Nicholas Tadros remained at Queensland Children’s Hospital in Brisbane, where medical staff described his condition as “critical but stable” on Monday.
His mother, 36-year-old Vanessa Tadros, was killed when two Sea World theme park helicopters collided on January 2 during joyous flights in the tourist town of Gold Coast, 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Brisbane.
She was buried on Monday after a funeral near her family home in western Sydney.
One of the priests who conducted the funeral, Father Suresh Kumar, posted on social media on Monday that the son “has been off a ventilator for a few days now and his body has responded very well”.
“They have occasionally reduced his sedation medication to see if he responds and he has woken up and has been able to respond to some questions with a nod or head shake,” Kumar wrote.
“He can also hold his father’s hand,” Kumar added, referring to Nicholas’ father, Simon Tadros, who is named as the source of the information in the statement.
Nicholas remained on a ventilator to support his breathing and more surgeries were planned, the priest said.
Along with Nicholas’s mother, British couple Ron and Diane Hughes and pilot Ashley Jenkinson were also killed in the collision, which is being investigated by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
The other victims who remain in hospital are a 33-year-old mother and her 9-year-old son. The conditions of both are listed as stable.
