Innsbruck, Austria –As he lies in a hospital bed in Innsbruck, doctors indicate that Prince Johan Friso van Oranje of The Netherlands may never regain consciousness following his burial in an avalanche in the Austrian ski resort of Lech a week ago.

Oxygen deprivation led to severe brain damage and nearly an hour of subsequent cardiac arrest for Friso, who was found after 20 minutes of searching the avalanche debris. Published reports quote Wolfgang Koller, head of the trauma unit at the Innsbruck Medical University hospital, as saying that there’s no way to know if Friso will ever regain consciousness, and even if he does his rehabilitation will take months or years.

Members of Friso’s family, including the Dutch Queen Beatrix, remain at his side.

Friso was skiing off-piste in a group of five at a time of high avalanche danger in Lech, an upscale Austrian resort popular with the Dutch royalty. He was the only member of the group that was buried by the slide, and he was wearing an avalanche transceiver when the incident occurred.

The middle son of Queen Beatrix, Friso abandoned his right to the Dutch throne in 2003 by not seeking parliamentary approval of his marriage to a commoner, with whom he has two young daughters. He nonetheless retains the title of Prince.