Ajax star Abdelhak Nouri wakes up after nearly three years in coma, his family confirm

Abdelhak Nouri has regained consciousness after being in a coma for two years and nine months and the ex-Ajax star is now able to eat and sit up in a wheelchair, his family have confirmed.

The 22-year-old has now awoken from his coma and ‘sleeps, eats, frowns and burps’ but remains bedridden and ‘very dependent’ on his family members.

Nouri’s brother has informed Dutch outlet De Wereld Draait Door that his younger sibling is ‘doing well’ in a house which has been designed to cater for his specific needs.

Abderrahim, who communicates with Abdelhak through eyebrow signals and smiles, says that the former midfielder has even started watching football again.

‘He has not been home very long, we take care of him there now,’ Abderrahim said.

‘I must say that since he is at home it is going much better than before in the hospital. He is aware of where he is, he is back in a familiar environment with his family.

‘He’s no longer in a coma. He’s just awake. He sleeps, he sneezes, he eats, he burps, but it’s not like he gets out of bed. He’s very bedridden and still very dependent on us. On his good days there is a form of communication, for example, confirmation with his eyebrows or a smile. But you notice that he can’t last that very long.

‘We talk to him like he’s not sick. We take him into our conversations and we watch football with him in the living room, for example. Then he watches. You notice that he likes that very much. 

‘He often shows emotions. Sometimes he is emotional, but often there is also a smile. That does us good. That makes you really appreciate a smile.’