British teen emerging from 11-month coma unaware of COVID lockdown

A British teenager who fell into a coma before COVID-19 lockdown measures began in the U.K. is reportedly waking up with little or no knowledge of the pandemic despite having contracted the virus twice while he was unconscious.

Reuters reported that the family of 19-year-old Joseph Flavill says their son has established limited contact with his doctors and loved ones through blinking but has yet to be brought up to speed on everything that has occurred since he was hit by a car on March 1, suffering a traumatic brain injury.

“I don’t know how Joseph will ever understand our stories of this lockdown,” Flavill’s aunt told the news service, adding: “Recently Joseph has started to show small signs of recovery, which we are thrilled about. … We know now he can hear us, he responds to small commands.”

The first cases of COVID-19 were reported in the U.K. in early February, and the British government had already moved to advise against all nonessential travel to mainland China by the time of Flavill’s accident. But the first measures implemented by the government to restrict the spread of the virus within the U.K. did not occur until mid-March, days after the accident occurred.

A fundraising page for Flavill’s recovery has raised more than $43,000, and was recently updated to note that the teen has made “really meaningful steps” towards his recovery.