Sharon in ninth day of coma
2006-01-13 14:09
Jerusalem - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was pronounced "serious but stable" by doctors on Friday as he spent his ninth day in a medically-induced coma since suffering a massive brain haemorrhage.
The prime minister has been in intensive care since his collapse and three bouts of surgery to stem bleeding in the brain, leaving Israelis increasingly resigned to the likelihood that he will never return to government.
The Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem where he is being treated said Sharon remains in a "serious and stable" condition, but that he is yet to emerge fully from a deep coma, induced by medics in order to rest his body.
Doctors have been slowly reducing levels of anaethesia but the 77-year-old premier has yet to awaken. Doctors have dismissed reports of an increase in general concern while the local media has focused on the fact Sharon has yet to open his eyes.
Worried from the start
"We have been worried from the start, we continue to be and we are saying that his condition is serious," Hadassah spokesperson Ron Krumer said.
He confirmed that Sharon had been in a coma for nine days, but stressed the length of time such patients remained unconscious varied from case to case.
"We have expressed our concern since the beginning and we have not changed," he said, adding that there could be another update on Sharon's condition before the start of the Jewish Sabbath at sundown on Friday.
Doctors have given a series of upbeat medical reports following the initial shock of the demise of a man many in Israel regarded as the ultimate strongman with a near-infallible resilience.
The prime minister has gone through three bouts of surgery to stem bleeding in his brain since being admitted to hospital on January 4 after suffering his second stroke in about two weeks.
"Little by little, he is giving us more signs that he is getting better but he will not wake up for the next day or two," chief neurosurgeon Felix Umansky said on Thursday.
Nevertheless an opinion poll published in the mass selling Yediot Aharanot newspaper revealed that an overwhelming 87% of those interviewed doubted Sharon would ever return to his duties as prime minister.
Despite Sharon's stricken state, the new centrist party that he founded just six weeks before his collapse has maintained a sweeping lead over rivals in the latest opinion polls published ahead of Israel's general election in March.
Acting prime minister Ehud Olmert, who is now almost certain to lead Kadima to the March 28 election, was favourite to be elected premier with 45.7%, well ahead of Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu with 26.6%.
Olmert, a politician with decades of experience, nonetheless lacks Sharon's charisma and faces a huge task in navigating the security and political problems facing Israel.