Boy wakes from coma, asks if Juve still in Champions League

A 14-year-old Italian boy who fell into a canal has survived, despite being held under water for 42 minutes.

The youngster, only identified as ‘Michael’, is said to have jumped off a bridge into water that was only 6.5-feet deep.

His heart stopped beating whilst submerged in water and he was assumed dead until paramedics brought him back to life using a defibrillator.

The teenager spent one month in hospital in a coma, hooked up to a life support machine in the hope that his heart and lungs would recover from the terrifying ordeal.

And after four weeks in the Milan hospital of San Raffaele, he is said to have woken, with the first words out of his mouth asking whether his favourite team Juventus were still in the Champions League.

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The boy’s lead healthcare specialist, Dr Zangrillo told a press conference: "He has recovered the spirit of the kid his parents and friends knew. He is a great guy, with uncommon intelligence. Every day I talk to him and joke - the other day, he asked us for a mojito!

“There are very big question marks about the human brain. We don’t know its full possibilities. What we do know is that you should never give up.”

And that is exactly the kind of attitude Juventus have displayed during their Champions League campaign – one that they will stick to as they face Barcelona in the final on Saturday.

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