Posted on 05/28/2008 12:08:54 PM PDT by BillyBoy
27/05/2008
Dungeon monster Josef Fritzl's daughter of 19 miraculously woke from her coma yesterday.
Medics feared Kerstin - born to Fritzl and his daughter Elisabeth during her 24-year incestuous captivity - would die when her organs failed earlier this month.
But she showed flickers of life over the weekend and yesterday the family were overjoyed to hear she had opened her eyes.
A source close to the victims in their psychiatric clinic said: "In a world that was very dark, the Fritzls now have light.
"Elisabeth and family are very happy, but they know they mustn't get their hopes up too high. Kerstin's incredibly fragile. She'll be in bed a long time - probably months."
Kerstin became desperately sick after getting no fresh air, light, exercise and proper food her entire life. In a rare act of mercy, Fritzl, 73, chose to release the teenager and take her to hospital when she collapsed in his underground lair last month.
If she gains strength, police will quiz her on whether Fritzl sexually abused her.
When the investigation into his reign of terror began, she was unconscious and too weak to be physically examined.
Elisabeth, 42, who had been imprisoned by Fritzl as a sex slave since she was 18, is on the mend with her five other children in a separate clinic near the hospital.
Stefan, 18, and Felix, five, were locked in the cellar while siblings Lisa, 16, Monika, 14, and Alexander, 12, were brought upstairs by Fritzl as babies.
Elisabeth's mother Rosemarie, 69, has also gathered strength after health problems sparked by revelations of her husband's vile dungeon in Amstetten, Austria. The family recently symbolised Kerstin's presence by circling her name with a heart in a touching poster of personal messages.
But now her astonishing progress may continue, allowing her to read and write again. The source added: "Kerstin has not yet spoken but she's responding to touch.
"She moves when she feels pressure on her skin. Everybody's crossing their fingers this recovery will continue but nobody can predict it. Doctors are still piecing together Kerstin's medical history.
"Elisabeth has helped hugely with that and has had several sessions with doctors to fill in the gaps. But there are some things people simply don't know.
"Elisabeth is doing a wonderful job of getting the family back to normal. Kerstin is the final piece of the jigsaw."
When the teenager fell ill, doctors sent out a national TV appeal to find her mother, who, Fritzl claimed, had run off to a sect.
Unsuspecting Rosemarie was away on holiday in Italy at the time but rushed home to support the children.
The family are expected to stay in their clinic for several months while they adapt to the real world.
Meanwhile, Fritzl is going through psychological tests at his prison.
Thanks to all the freepers who continue to keep this poor family in their prayers.
For all the freepers who, like me, want to hear updates on the family's recovery.
This latest development is starting to answer the big question that loomed since this story broke: What will become of Kerstin Fritzl?
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Please keep Elisabeth Fritzl and her children in your thoughts and prayers.
Oh, thank you for sharing that wonderful news. This family has been through so much, I hope the rest of their life can be happy together.
She’s responding to touch, but hasn’t been able to speak yet. She’s far from physically recovered; she’s just no longer comatose.
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Thanks for keeping me updated. Hopefully Kerstin will continue to amaze the doctors - but seems she still has a long way to go. Not sure how they can figure at this time that she should be able to read and write in the future? But hope they are correct - along with being able to do so much more.
What I find amazing is the strength of her mom - Elisabeth. When the first reports of the younger boys just communicating via “grunts” I thought (and posted) that perhaps their mom had just given up on the whole situation after so many years in their dungeon.
I now see that I was very wrong. It seems that the kids have a reasonable grasp on language, writing, reading etc. so Elizabeth must have done a very good job at trying to provide the best for her children, and working hard with them under unbelievable circumstances. And she is still hanging in there for her family as they all recover. I would imagine that some individuals might go crazy after being back into the “real world” and not be able to adapt. Or say “Hey, I was stuck with them for 19 years. I need a break, let someone else worry about them for awhile”.
God bless this wonderful mother and her family. Including her children that lived “up above”.
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Thanks for the ping. Prayers continuing! I sure hope Kerstin is able to recover fully.
Prayers for the young lady.
Yeah they’re saying now that the early reports claiming the celler children spoke in an “animal language” were not all that accurate. Elisabeth Fritzl taught her children how to read and speak German, and of course since they had access to TV, they’d be used to hearing normal conversations. Apprently they didn’t do a great deal of talking down in the celler though, and had to concetrate a lot to talk to the authorities when they were first released. The grunts and “animal sounds” weren’t a language but them react in shock and excitement at being released.
Of course the early reports also said Kerstin Fritzl was suffering multiple organ failure and “likely to die” and those reports WERE apprently accurate, but she has since made a great turnabout.
Here’s some related stories on how the rest of the family (sans Kerstin) is doing:
Fritzl cellar kids amazingly normal thanks to mum
By Ryan Parry 21/05/2008
Dungeon mum Elisabeth Fritzl has raised educated, normal children despite being caged in a cellar, says her lawyer.
Elisabeth gave Felix, six, Stefan, 18, and Kerstin, 19, hope by promising that one day they would be reunited with their brother and sisters upstairs.
Lawyer Dr Christoph Herbst said: “It’s a normal family with a very strong woman. They had lessons; they learned grammar; they learned the language, maths. They have been raised well.”
He said of Elisabeth, kept prisoner for 24 years: “She tried her best to give them a structure and a good life under the circumstances.” Now the six children, all born to Elisabeth after she was raped by dad Josef, are living together.
Upstairs siblings Lisa, 16, Monika, 14, and Alexander, 12, have joined Felix, Stefan and Kerstin in an apartment in a psychiatric clinic near Vienna. Kerstin is still thought to be seriously ill.
They cook and eat together, play, spend time at a computer and enjoy each other’s company. Dr Herbst said: “Then they sit together at a large table and talk, discuss and make jokes.”
He said Felix and Stefan are both smart and fun. He added: “I think they are still missing lots of things they would like to experience in the outside world.
“Felix just said ‘I want to see rain for the first time’.”
Thrilled cellar boy Felix Fritzl chose a Happy Meal as he enjoyed a secret visit to a McDonald’s restaurant.
It was the six-year-old’s first outing from the psychiatric clinic which has been his home since he was freed from the dungeon where he had been a captive all his life.
A “delighted” Felix was driven three miles to the McDonald’s for his burger treat.
He was accompanied by nurses and wore sunglasses to protect his eyes from daylight.
A source said: “Felix is loving his freedom. He’s made so much progress since he arrived at the clinic three weeks ago. He loved going to McDonald’s but is also fascinated by cars and loves going out in them.”
Felix and most of his family are staying at Austria’s Amstetten-Mauer clinic. His mum Elisabeth, 42, was a held as a sex slave in her dad Josef’s DIY dungeon for 24 years
Thanks. That is some family she has.
Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!
thank you for the ping
Ping :)
Thanks for the ping!!
I want to keep up with this story. Elisabeth must be an amazing woman.
Thank you for the ping.
Prayers continue.
Thank you for the ping.
Yes, many prayers will be said.
Thanks for the ping. God bless this family.
susie
You know, her kids were her only real human contact (hard to consider what passed for a father to be considered human). I suspect they have an especially close bond. I wonder if she thought anyone else knew she was in there (did she think her mother knew and didn’t care)? So many questions, I hope she writes a book.
susie
Thanks very much for the ping, BillyBoy and for following this story. Great news!
life
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