In a story that challenges the limits of wealth and modern medicine, Prince Al-Waleed bin Khalid bin Talal Al Saud—dubbed the “Sleeping Prince”—has remained in a coma for two decades following a tragic 2005 car accident in London. The Saudi royal, now 36, continues to receive round-the-clock medical care at King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh, sustained by ventilators and feeding tubes, as his family clings to hope against overwhelming odds.
The great-grandson of Saudi Arabia’s founder King Abdulaziz suffered a traumatic brain hemorrhage during his military studies abroad. While his companions emerged unscathed from the crash, the prince slipped into unconsciousness—a state he has never emerged from, despite his family’s vast resources and access to world-class healthcare.
In 2015, doctors advised terminating life support, but his father Prince Khalid bin Talal defiantly rejected the suggestion. “If God had wanted him to die in the accident, he would have been in his grave now,” the grieving patriarch declared, embodying a faith that has sustained the family through years of heartbreak.
Occasional glimmers—a head turn in 2019, a hand movement in 2020—have fueled the family’s hopes. Neurologists caution that while these rare responses indicate some preserved brain function, prospects for full recovery remain vanishingly slim. Yet the family’s vigil continues, with Princess Rima bint Talal’s 2024 social media post of the prince attracting over two million views in a day, testifying to global fascination with this tragedy of royalty and resilience.
As the prince recently marked another birthday, the story serves as a poignant reminder that some human conditions defy even the greatest fortunes—with social media flooded not with solutions, but with prayers for what medicine cannot achieve. The Al Saud family’s unwavering commitment has transformed the prince’s condition into a symbol of love’s persistence against impossible odds.
