PMA cadet shot by jeepney robber comes out of coma, moves out of ICU

The Philippine Military Academy (PMA) cadet who was shot last month by a jeepney robber in Quezon City has come out of his coma, according to a military official.

Colonel Arnulfo Burgos Jr., spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the  Philippines (AFP), said that Cadet First Class Alfonso Aviles has opened his eyes although he is still unable to talk.

Doctors are currently evaluating if he is able to understand the things that are happening around him.

“Cadet First Class Aviles is on his way to recovery. He is out of a coma. His doctors think it’s a miracle,” Burgos said in a press briefing yesterday.

He added that the cadet was transferred on Saturday from the intensive care unit of the AFP Medical Center in Quezon City to a regular room.

“There is constant movement in the right side of his body and his doctors monitored his eyes [to be] closing and opening,” Burgos said.

“They will just let the bullet in his shoulder surface because it’s dangerous to remove it as of now. His physical therapy will continue,” he told reporters.

Burgos said that doctors had estimated that Aviles would need to undergo rehabilitation for up to six months.

“We will continue to focus on his case not just in terms of his medication but also with the police investigation,” he said.

Aviles was in a jeepney on Aug. 25 in Quezon City when a lone gunman tried to rob one of the passengers. He tried but failed to wrest the gun away from the robber who shot him in the neck before escaping.