This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/nov/29/man-on-life-support-has-shown-signs-of-improvement-court-paul-briggs
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Police officer on life support 'has shown signs of improvement' Police officer on life support 'has shown signs of improvement' | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| An injured police officer whose wife wants doctors to withdraw life support treatment has shown some signs of improvement, a court has heard. | An injured police officer whose wife wants doctors to withdraw life support treatment has shown some signs of improvement, a court has heard. |
| But the court of protection hearing in Manchester heard that PC Paul Briggs, 43, remained in a minimally conscious state and was still unable to consistently respond to yes or no questions using a buzzer. | But the court of protection hearing in Manchester heard that PC Paul Briggs, 43, remained in a minimally conscious state and was still unable to consistently respond to yes or no questions using a buzzer. |
| Briggs, whose wife, Lindsey, has asked the court to stop his treatment, sustained a brain haemorrhage, five fractures in his spine, bruising to internal organs and several other severe injuries in a crash in July last year. | Briggs, whose wife, Lindsey, has asked the court to stop his treatment, sustained a brain haemorrhage, five fractures in his spine, bruising to internal organs and several other severe injuries in a crash in July last year. |
| The Gulf war veteran, from Wirral, Merseyside, is being cared for at the Walton Centre in Liverpool. | The Gulf war veteran, from Wirral, Merseyside, is being cared for at the Walton Centre in Liverpool. |
| Specialist speech and language therapist Mary Ankers told the court there was still potential for Briggs to emerge from the minimally conscious state. | Specialist speech and language therapist Mary Ankers told the court there was still potential for Briggs to emerge from the minimally conscious state. |
| She said: “His responses in terms of command following ... have certainly become more consistent.” | She said: “His responses in terms of command following ... have certainly become more consistent.” |
| The court heard staff would give Briggs a buzzer and ask him to press it, before moving on to ask him questions which he could respond to by pressing the buzzer once for yes or twice for no. | The court heard staff would give Briggs a buzzer and ask him to press it, before moving on to ask him questions which he could respond to by pressing the buzzer once for yes or twice for no. |
| Ankers said in 47 out of 64 sessions he had been able to respond to commands from staff at least once, which she said was an improvement on an assessment earlier this year. | Ankers said in 47 out of 64 sessions he had been able to respond to commands from staff at least once, which she said was an improvement on an assessment earlier this year. |
| But she said his response to higher-level tasks was “highly inconsistent”. | But she said his response to higher-level tasks was “highly inconsistent”. |
| The judge, Mr Justice Charles, questioned whether one of the assessments, which had reported Briggs had responded to a number of questions using the buzzer, was “dodgy” as it did not follow the proper process. | The judge, Mr Justice Charles, questioned whether one of the assessments, which had reported Briggs had responded to a number of questions using the buzzer, was “dodgy” as it did not follow the proper process. |
| Ankers agreed the results of that session should be treated with great caution. | Ankers agreed the results of that session should be treated with great caution. |
| The report showed Briggs had used the buzzer to answer a number of questions about himself and indicated yes when asked if he was in pain. | The report showed Briggs had used the buzzer to answer a number of questions about himself and indicated yes when asked if he was in pain. |