Messages of friendship draw man out of coma

A high school graduate has regained consciousness 10 days after falling into a coma, thanks to a series of good will messages recorded by his friends.

Xing Yingkuan awoke on the afternoon of Aug 9 in the Fifth People's Hospital of Chengdu, Sichuan province, according to a Legal Daily report. He had been in intensive care for more than a week after suffering a cardiac arrest.

The 18-year-old collapsed after playing basketball on the afternoon of July 31 and fell into a coma. His friends tried to resuscitate him before he was sent to the hospital.

When he was in a coma, Xing's family was told there was little chance he would recover, but his friends and family still tried to wake him.

After he was hospitalized, Xing's classmates recorded 39 audio clips to play to him in a bid to rouse him.

"Each second you lie in bed is one more bit of torture for us," said one of his classmates.

Another said: "Brother Monkey (Xing's nickname), we are waiting for you to play basketball. Don't sleep anymore."

In addition to messages, a saxophone rendition of Auld Lang Syne was also played.

The efforts paid off when the young man regained consciousness. However, Xing still has to rely on a respirator to breathe and has severe inflammation of his lungs, according to his sister, Xing Meiling.

Wang Guoxiang, the physician in charge of the teenager's treatment, said the cardiac arrest was the result of long exposure to the sun combined with high-intensity physical exercise, which led to low levels of potassium in his body.

Every year, more than half a million people die from heart attacks in China, Liu Xuanguo, vice-chairman of the Chinese Red Cross Foundation, told the Huashang Morning Post.

The survival rate is less than 1 percent due to poor first-aid knowledge and a lack of automated external defibrillators in public spaces.