Italian teenager miraculously survives being stuck underwater for 42 MINUTES

The boy, referred to as Michael, has made extreme progress and shows no signs of brain damage.

A teenage boy from Italy has miraculously survived being stuck underwater in a murky canal for 42 minutes, although he will have to have is right like amputated below the knee over circulatory problems. Identified only as Michael, the half-German teen reportedly jumped off a canal in Milan with his friends, but became trapped in the 6.5-feet deep water. After being presumed dead because his heartbeat stopped while underwater, he was resuscitated through a defibrillator.

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - Michael's intense rescue required a team of people with fire service divers to form a human chain pulling him out. Michael has spent a month inside a hospital plugged into a life-support to help recover his lungs and heart and for body oxygenation.

He since has been reported waking up and speaking to his parents, asking for his favorite team, according to the Independent UK.

His doctor, Alberto Zangrillo, who also serves as Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's personal physician, explained that Michael's recovery was "the greatest satisfaction of my entire professional career" in a statement with The Milan Chronicle.

Dr. Zangrillo noted that part of his survival was because the cold water initiated the slowing down of his vital systems.

In a report by The Times, the team that handled Michael's case used a method to mimic the functions of the heart, called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) to extract oxygen-deprived blood. It will be warmed up and oxygenated before they pump the blood back to the body.  

"After 15 days we performed an MRI scan and his brain appeared OK," said the doctor who also remarked that the teenager was very lively and spirited, as they talk to each other and exchange jokes.

Michael remembers what happened before the accident, showing signs of alertness and no brain damage.

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