THE ELDEST daughter from Josef Fritzl's incestuous relationship with his daughter Elisabeth has been reunited with her family after making an "almost complete recovery" from her 19-year ordeal in a secret cellar. DEREK SCALLYin Berlin reports
With the words "a new life" the young woman woke from nearly a month in a medically induced coma. Now Austrian doctors say her treatment is "running like clockwork" and that she wants to see Robbie Williams in concert.
"The reunion of the family was a very moving moment," said the Fritzl family lawyer Christoph Herbst yesterday. "I have the feeling the family is growing back together."
It was Kerstin Fritzl's mysterious cramps and black-outs that alerted Austrian authorities to the double life of the 73-year-old Josef Fritzl in the Austrian town of Amstetten. He brought the unconscious young woman into the local clinic on April 19th, claiming she was his granddaughter. A week later, he brought along his visibly disturbed daughter Elisabeth, missing for 24 years.
When police stepped in, Fritzl confessed to fathering seven children by Elisabeth in a sound-proof cellar under his home, telling the outside world that she had joined a cult.
For a month, Elisabeth Fritzl kept a bedside vigil as her daughter battled life-threatening organ failure before beginning to improve.
On May 12th, attending doctor Albert Reiter began reducing the medication keeping her unconscious.
"She opened her eyes for the first time at 9am on May 15th and slowly started showing signs of emotional reaction," he said. "By June 1st she was more alert and, after greeting her with 'Hello Kerstin', she replied with a 'Hello'.
"It was an extremely dramatic moment," he said.
Far from a sickly victim who grew up without daylight, Dr Reiter painted a picture of a resilient, restless teenager.
"Sometimes I have to intervene at 3am to get her to turn down the music and get some rest," he said. "I'm particularly proud that she was able to walk the distance to her new residence and her new life."
Elisabeth Fritzl and her six children are now living in a self-contained apartment on the grounds of the Amstetten clinic.
All are receiving psychological treatment and tutoring. Doctors said that Kerstin was able to read and write. Her testimony could prove important for the prosecution and result in an even tougher sentence for Josef Fritzl.
He is likely to face multiple charges of rape and imprisonment, as well as "murder by neglect" following the death of a newborn son, which he disposed of in the cellar furnace.