Vienna - The teenage daughter of Austrian incest victim Elisabeth Fritzl awoke from her coma and is no longer in intensive care, Austrian news agency APA reported Tuesday. Nineteen-year-old Kerstin Fritzl is one of seven children Josef Fritzl fathered with his daughter Elisabeth, whom he incarcerated and repeatedly raped in a dungeon under his house over 24 years. One of the seven children died at birth.
Doctors at the Amstetten hospital woke Kerstin from an induced coma and she was able to leave intensive care several days ago, hospital spokesperson Klaus Schwertner said.
Kerstin Fritzl would, however, continue to receive "intensive medical, nursing and therapeutic care," he said.
In April, Kerstin's illness triggered events that led to the rescue of her mother and siblings from their underground prison. Elisabeth Fritzl convinced her 73-year-old tormentor to bring her and the seriously ill girl to a hospital, enabling police to uncover the crime.
Last Friday, judicial authorities decided to prolong Josef Fritzl's custody. His trial is expected to take place before the end of 2008.
