SHARON REMAINS IN COMA

SHARON HAD A SECOND BRAIN SURGERY AND WILL REMAIN IN AN INDUCED COMA FOR 24 TO 72 HOURS. HE IS UNLIKELY TO RESUME HIS DUTIES AND HAS LIKELY SUFFERED BRAIN DAMAGE.

Sharon still in very serious condition, vital signs stable (JPost)

Sources "close to the prime minister" have said that Ariel Sharon has suffered damage to his brain, and that the damage would be apparent when and if Sharon surfaces from an induced comma, according to a Channel 10 report. Earlier Thursday, Professor Shlomo Mor-Yosef, Director-General of Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem announced that Sharon will remain in an induced coma for at least 24 hours.

The prime minister's vital signs were still stable, following his second operation of the day. "Sharon is under anesthesia and is being ventilated, at least for the next 24 hours," the hospital director said.

Mor-Yosef stressed that the prime minister was still alive, thereby refuting rumors that Sharon had passed away. He promised to notify the public were any changes to occur. Sharon was transferred to the neuro-surgery intensive care unit following an operation that succeeded in halting cerebral hemmoraghing on Thursday morning.

Doctors Doubt Full Recovery for Sharon - Emma Ross and Marilynn Marchione
Doctors said Wednesday that the chances of Prime Minister Sharon making a full recovery from the massive stroke he suffered are slim. "It's among the most dangerous of all types of strokes," said Dr. Robert A. Felberg, a neurologist who directs the stroke program at Ochsner Clinic in New Orleans. (AP/Washington Post)