HIS "DOG" SPOT

Man wakes from coma when wife whispers he has become a grandfather

Some things are worth waking up for.

And after two weeks in a coma David Russell finally opened his eyes - after his wife told him he had just become a grandfather.

Doctors had previously warned Helen Russell that the prognosis for her 60-year-old husband was not good.

But on hearing the news of the latest addition to the family, the farmer is making a full recovery.

He then underwent a five-hour operation to remove a blood clot from his brain before lapsing into the coma.

Farmer David Russell with wife Helen and a photograph of new granddaughter Edie. Doctors thought he would wake brain damaged

His 57-year-old wife was warned he would probably wake up with serious brain damage, but after their first grandchild Edie was born two weeks later she whispered in his ear: 'Come on granddad you have got to wake up now.'

Mrs Russell says that on hearing the news her husband stirred from his coma and gave her a wink.

She said yesterday: 'The doctors didn't even think that he would survive the operation, which was absolutely horrific news to be given.

'He did survive but when he failed to come out of an induced coma they said the best case scenario was that he would be brain damaged and severely impaired.

'But then Edie was born and I went into the hospital and said: 'Come on granddad you have got to wake up now - you have got to do that'.

'Soon after that he started to come out of the coma and opened his eyes and winked at me.

'He came round when I told him we were grandparents for the first time.'

She added: 'He's incredibly proud and thrilled to be a grandfather.

'The whole family was elated. Words don't even begin to describe how devastated we were after the accident.'

Mr Russell, a father-of-three was at his farm in Didmarton, Gloucetershire, England when he fell head-first onto a concrete floor in December.

He was airlifted to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol where specialist surgeons operated for five hours to remove a blood clot from his brain and then put him in a coma from which he couldn't be woken.

It was only when his granddaughter Edie was born to son Edward, 30, and his wife Ellie that he finally came round after 15 days.

Mr Russell, who is now expected to make a full recovery, said: 'The doctors told my wife that there was a risk that although I was going to survive I may be severely brain damaged.

'The next day Helen told me that we had become grandparents and I apparently opened my eyes and blinked and winked, but I don't remember it.'

Mr Russell was well enough to see his granddaughter three weeks later while he was undergoing rehabilitation at Gloucester Royal Hospital.

He said: 'It was just fantastic to meet Edie and I have got her to thank for saving my life. When she is older I will tell her that she helped bring me out of a coma.

'My concern now is just on getting better.'

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