26 April,2012 11:17 AM IST | | IANS
Doctors described Steven Thorpe as "truly a unique case" after he awoke from a two-week coma following a multiple car crash that claimed the life of his schoolfriend, a major newspaper reported.
Steven was 17 when he suffered horrific injuries after the smash four years ago. He was placed in a chemically-induced coma and doctors said he would never recover - they even asked his devastated parents to consider donating his organs.
But Steven's father begged doctors to reconsider and even enlisted private GP Julia Piper to examine him again after being convinced that their son could recover.
Doctors at University Hospital in Coventry, West Midlands county, agreed to let a neurologist re-examine him and, astonishingly, he detected faint brain waves indicating Steven had a slim chance of making a recovery.
National Health Service chiefs agreed to bring Steven out of his coma to see if he could survive on his own and he stunned medics by making an almost full recovery. Incredibly, just five weeks later Steven was discharged from hospital.
Speaking about his amazing recovery for the first time, Steven, now aged 21 and a trainee accountant, said : "My father believed I was still there."
