After being paralysed and unconscious for more than three weeks, all three members of an Indian family struck down with botulism after eating suspected wild boar meat have regained consciousness, Fairfax reports.
35-year-old Shibu Kochummen and his 32-year-old wife Subi Babu and Kochummen's 62-year-old mother, Alekutty Daniel, fell gravely ill at their home in New Zealand on November 10 after eating wild boar suspected to be contaminated.
Daniel woke up first, followed by Kochummen earlier this week, but it was not until Friday that Babu opened her eyes.
Friend Joji Varghese, who knows the family through church, was hugely relieved to receive a call this morning conveying the good news.
Babu, a nurse, had immediately tried to ask about her children and husband's wellbeing, he said.
"She finds it difficult to talk, but she still managed to ask for her children when she woke up. She wanted to know where her children were, because she wouldn't have known until then if they were safe."
The couple’s daughter have visited them, Varghese said.
"It's very emotional for them, [Babu's] speech is still very slurred and she can only get a few words out at a time."
The family is still recovering are still immobile.
"A lot of rehab will have to be done."
The test results are still awaited from the Queensland lab.
"It's frustrating, but it takes long time to understand and there are so many things to look for, I'm told. I'm just glad they're on the right track."
"The family has had no other treatment but for botulism and they have come around, so I think that's what it was," Varghese said.
The family moved to New Zealand from India five years ago. Kochummen, his wife and his mother consumed the suspected contaminated meat and fell unconsciousness at their home in New Zealand. Emergency services arrived to find the trio on the floor, unresponsive and vomiting.
The children were asleep at the time and did not eat the wild boar meat.
