Boy stabbed on Crete likely to be brought out of induced coma on Friday
The 12-year-old Russian boy who suffered multiple stab wounds while on vacation in Crete is likely to be brought out of an induced coma on Friday with doctors waiting to see what, if any, damage was caused by the spinal injuries he suffered.
The child remained in a stable condition at the Aglaia Kyriakou Hospital in Athens on Thursday but the hospital revealed that neurosurgeons discovered during several hours of surgery on Wednesday that the boy’s spinal cord had been damaged when he was allegedly stabbed by a 20-year-old Dutch children’s entertainer at the hotel in Hersonissos where he was staying with his mother. There is concern that this injury may cause at least partial paralysis.
The Russian Health Ministry said on Thursday that it is prepared to airlift the boy to Moscow if needed. The boy’s mother is being provided with professional counseling and her accommodation is being paid for by the Hellenic Federation of Hoteliers.
The suspect, named on Thursday by authorities as Cirino Schrijver, was taken to the prosecutor’s office in Iraklio, Crete, where he was charged with attempted murder and theft. The hotel employee is alleged to have stolen the boy’s laptop and mobile phone, which then led to a confrontation between the two. Some locals attempted to attack the 20-year-old outside the courthouse but police intervened. Sources said that he described in detail to the prosecutor how he carried out the attack and then hid the boy’s body but then asked authorities when he would be free to go and if he would be able to pick up his wages. He is to be assigned a defense lawyer ahead of appearing before a magistrate on Monday.
A woman identifying herself as Schrijver’s mother told Dutch website Hart van Nederland that her son suffers from autism and that she was making attempts to fly to Crete to see him. Schrijver had only been taken on by the hotel a few days before the attack.
