Girl Emerges from Coma During Bryan Adams Concert

Reuters Health ^ | 3-12-03 | Michael Leidig

[Pharmboy]

MUNICH (Reuters Health) - A young woman left in a coma for six years after she collapsed at school has started to respond to the world around her after her mother took her to see her pop star hero Bryan Adams perform live.

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Christiane Kittel, now 24, was left in a vegetative state after her collapse on 12 June 1997. Doctors believe her condition was caused by a combination of hot weather, a hereditary haemophilia condition and side-effects of the contraceptive pill.

She had to be resuscitated three times, once at school and twice at the University Clinic in Regensburg, where she underwent surgery before being attached to life-support machines in the intensive care unit.

Later she was moved to the intensive care unit at the Clinic for Neurologic Rehabilitation in Regensburg, where her parents Karl-Gunther and Adelheide Kittel have kept a 15-hour watch by her bedside every day.

Her father, now 55, told Reuters Health: "We did not want her to be alone so we have spent every day by her bedside. We take it in turns, my wife does six hours than I take over for about six hours, there is usually someone there constantly between 5 AM and 8 PM."

"We have never given up hope of seeing our beloved daughter again," he said.

"Bryan Adams was always her biggest hero and she loved his music before she fell into a coma," said his wife Adelheid, 53. "When we heard about the concert in Regensburg we knew straight away that we had to take her there."

A local paper paid for the tickets and doctors arranged special help to get Christiane to the concert, her mother said.

During the concert, Christiane started to move in the wheelchair and was fascinated by the music and the singer.

"I will never forget it, I could have hugged the whole world. When we got back to the clinic she was still animated, and three times she called my name, she said Mama."

Head of the clinic Dr. Gerhard Weber, who has worked with Christiane for six years, confirmed that the concert had been a big leap forward for the young woman, but warned there was still a long way to go.

"I think there had been signs that she was starting to respond to the treatment she was getting before the concert and was no longer in a full vegetative state, but the concert certainly represented a big improvement," he told Reuters Health.

"There is a long way to go but I am very happy with the results of our experiment. It was the first time she had been out of the hospital apart from a single brief trip to her home. What she needs now is for the various therapies to continue and a lot of emotional stimulation including more trips home, for example.

"It's wrong to say it is a great miracle what happened here," Weber added. "But we have taken small steps and we are on the way to our goal."

But father Karl-Gunther takes another view: "I have no doubt that it was the concert that marked the turning point. She seemed to come alive when she was there, and clearly called out her mother's name. We now believe she is finally coming home to us."

[Xenalyte]

She was on the pill at SIXTEEN????

I started taking it at 14 for bad monthly acne. It was either that or Accutane, and we were wary of my kidneys. (Also, I was so scared of my parents that I had ZERO thought of having sex back then.)

[SamAdams76]

What were they doing taking a girl in a coma to a rock concert?

My thoughts exactly. More questions are raised than answered here. But hey, I'm glad the girl's out of a coma. Speaking of Bryan Adams, he has been around a long time. I have an old recording of his from the 1970s, when he was a disco singer. I kid you not. Don't ask me why, it's a long story

[Xenalyte]

Aside for the obvious reason, many girls who are NOT sexually active receive "the pill" to help them cope with menstrual problems, etc.

What you said.

[HairOfTheDog]

This just in . . . Xenalyte Lapses Into Coma During Bryan Adams Concert

Ya win some, ya lose some.

[LibertyGirl77]

So does this mean Bryan Adams is going to be sainted?

[Steve_Seattle]

In the name of Bryan Adams, lift up thy pallet and walk . . .

[Rightwing Conspiratr1]

I was under the impression that haemophilla only effected men while women only carried the gene.

Good eye. That's what I've also heard.

[Xenalyte]

That's just the way life goes.

[wimpycat]

Now, if only somebody could get Bryan Adams himself to show up at her house to serenade her in person...

If it was my kid, I'd definitely give it a shot.

[wimpycat]

Females do sometimes have hemophilia like conditions. It's also possible, although rare, for women to have hemophilia, but they don't reproduce.

[Tall_Texan]

I've heard of bands playing loud enough to wake up the dead but sheesh...

[wimpycat]

What were they doing taking a girl in a coma to a rock concert?

Why not? Audio-visual stimulation.

[JoeSchem]

Bryan Adams concerts revive people from comas, while Rolling Stones concerts kill. This is the objective evidence. The hardcore rocknrollers can claim it's the opposite, but they do not have objective evidence on their side. Thus, bereft of truth, their humor is feeble and their sarcasm falls flat.

[shadowman99]

The guy who got stabbed at the Stones concert with the Hell's Angels would agree with you - except that he's dead.

[Mr. Thorne]

Darn. You beat me to it.

= )

[montag813]

That's the same concert known to put people INTO comas. Go figure.

Yeah...she was probably trying to tell her mother "This music sucks! Get me out of here!"

[PBRSTREETGANG]

This is the objective evidence.

So, Rolling Stones concerts are "to die for", while Bryan Adams concerts can leave one in a semi-comatose state.

[Only1choice____Freedom]

I would imagine that a women with hemophilia would have trouble surviving at least once a month. That's a good reason enough to have her on pills. There seems to be some connection between the pills, the condition and the coma. I wonder what the frequency for male hemophilia patients and comas are. I would guess that the mechinism that is causing the clotting system to malfunction is different.

Besides there is another reason to have her on pills, do you remember the woman who woke up from a coma when she gave birth to a child conceved while she was in a coma?
If she is good looking, she may be a victim of rape while in the hosiptal. Disgusting as it may seem, it has happened at least once.

[capitan_refugio]

If you want to read a similar miracle story, check out

http://www.jennaprewitt.com/

My daughter and Jenna played soccer together as youngsters.

[Only1choice____Freedom]

>>"If you had a loved one in that state, you might try any stimulation that might work too."

I would without a doubt.