Argentinian dancer wakes from coma in BC

After staying in coma for two weeks, ballerina Lucila Munaretto came back to her senses on Tuesday.

Lucila Munaretto, 20, awoke from her medically induced coma earlier this week and is slowly coming to realize the severity of her injuries. During that time Munaretto managed to communicate with her loved ones through small movements, including raising her leg and winking.

Her friends at Pacific Dance Arts and Coastal City Ballet are ecstatic over the 21-year-old’s progress. She has also recorded a voice message for people who have been supporting the funding campaign for her recovery and surgery. However, any lasting medical effects the accident will have on Munaretto have yet to be determined.

Munaretto, who was not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, suffered a brain injury, though her friends say it’s been downgraded from severe to moderate.

“It was just so happy, I couldn’t do anything but cry”, she said. “She picks up her foot and lifts up her leg above her head on both sides”. They’ve launched a GoFundMe campaign page to assist in her recovery from a rollerblading accident in North Vancouver.

The academy continues to raise money for Munaretto’s rehabilitation, which appears like it will happen much sooner than originally anticipated.

“She said to the doctors, ‘I have to get strong very fast.because I have to dance”.

“But the timing is hard to say”, said Munaretto.

The talented young dancer came to Vancouver on a scholarship in the fall of 2012.

Munaretto’s father and her eight-year-old sister remain in Brazil where the family relies on income he makes as a self-employed carpenter.

Close to $38,000 has been raised to cover the cost of her recovery.