A Saudi prince who has been in a coma for 15 years has managed to give responses to requests by lifting his hand up for the first time in 15 years.
Prince Al-Waleed bin Khalid Al-Saud, now 47 years old, was studying at a military college when he was involved in a car crash.
He suffered a brain haemorrhage and has been in a coma since 2005.
The young Saudi royal was put on a ventilator for a decade and last made an astonishing physical movement about five years ago.
In a clip shared on Twitter by Saudi princess Noura bint Talal Al-Saud and others, a woman is seen greeting the prince by the hospital bed.
She says: “Habibi, hello. Hello, hello let me see.”
Prince Khalid lifts up his fingers momentarily and puts it down.
The woman continues: “Oh, one more, one more. Higher, higher.”
He appears to understand the request and is able to lift his right palm up shortly.
The prince’s father, the brother of billionaire Saudi business tycoon Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, has refused to give up on his son and insists on monitoring his condition with hopes that he may one day wake up.
Prince Khalid was among those detained for 11 months for criticising a crackdown on the kingdom’s elite that saw dozens of princes, officials, and tycoons imprisoned at Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton hotel in 2017.
He was re-arrested briefly the following year.
