Sharon reacted despite coma: Israeli nurse

Former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon sometimes reacted to the outside world despite his deep coma, a nurse says.

There were times that former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon reacted to the outside world, despite his deep coma, the nurse who cared for him for almost eight years says.

At times he pressed her hand or raised an eyebrow, Marina Lifshitz told reporters at Tel HaShomer Hospital on Saturday.

One morning, she showed him a photograph of his late wife Lily "and a tear rolled down from his eye," she said.

"It's very hard to forget that."

"Unfortunately I didn't know him when he was prime minister. I knew him as a patient," she said.

"He was a hero. He was a hero before that... Even during his last days, he continued to fight like a lion."