Last update - 00:00 06/12/2006
Hebrew U. Professor Aviezer Ravitzky wakes from 7-week coma
By Relly Sa'ar, Haaretz Correspondent
Hebrew University Professor and 2001 Israel Prize laureate Aviezer Ravitzky has emerged from a coma in recent days and is interacting with his environment.
The 61-year-old has been hospitalized in intensive care at the Loewenstein Hospital Rehabilitation Center in Ra'anana since October 16, when he was hit by a bus while crossing the street in Jerusalem.
Hospital officials said he is expected to be transfered to the hospital's rehabilitation department in the coming days for comprehensive rehabilitation.
"The family is optimistic," Ravitzky's wife Ruthi said on Tuesday. "Even though we know that the path to full recovery is still long."
Ravitzky said there has been "very nice progress" in her husband's condition, and said he is interacting with his family and his memory is returning, although it is still difficult for him to speak.
The hospital's director, Professor Yaacov Hart, said on Tuesday, "During my visit in the morning, I found Professor Ravitzky sitting in a wheelchair in the hall and reading Haaretz." Ravitzky shook his hand and said, "I am happy to see you."
According to Hart, "Professor Ravitzky even prayed in the synagogue two days ago."
Hart added, "The Loewenstein Hospital's intensive care unit has 32 years of experience in helping patients regain consciousness following a traumatic event. Eighty percent of our patients regain consciousness, compared to a global average of 70 percent."
The treatment designed to help patients regain consciousness at Loewenstein Hospital is done "in a special room, in which the medical staff uses the maximum stimulation for all the senses, such as hearing, touch, taste, and smell," said Hart. "Even the unconscious patients are taken by the medical staff to the garden, or even the swimming pool.
"The regaining of consciousness is not a continuous process, and there can be reversions to an inability to speak or memory loss," said Hart.
"The rehabilitation process takes many months, and includes physical therapy to rehabilitate muscles, and even rehabilitation of memory, awareness, and speech."
Professor Ravitzky is a professor of Jewish philosophy at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, as well as a senior fellow in the Israel Democracy Institute.
A member of the religious left, Ravitzky is a renowned academic and public figure, and is known for his Judeo-humanistic worldview.