'Sleeping Prince,' Who Spent 20 Years in a Coma Following a Car Accident, Dies at 36 - Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Khaled bin Talal Al Saud was 15 years old when he was injured in a car accident in 2005 while studying at a military college in London

Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Khaled bin Talal Al Saud and his father.Credit :
Khaled bin Talal/X

Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Khaled bin Talal Al Saud, known as the "Sleeping Prince," has died after spending two decades in a coma. He was 36.

On Saturday, July 19, the prince's father, Prince Khaled bin Talal Al Saud — a well-known Saudi royal and nephew of billionaire Prince Al Waleed bin Talal — announced that his son died at a medical facility in Saudi Arabia.

"With hearts believing in Allah will and decree, and with deep sorrow and sadness, we mourn our beloved son: Prince Al-Waleed bin Khaled bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, may Allah have mercy on him, who passed away today," the mourning dad wrote in Arabic on X.

Alongside a black-and-white photo of his son lying in a hospital bed with his eyes closed, Prince Khaled added that the funeral service would be held on Sunday, July 20.

Born in April 1990, Prince Al-Waleed — who was nicknamed Dede by his family — was injured in a car accident in 2005 while studying at a military college in London, per Gulf News and the Mirror. He was 15 years old at the time.

The prince sustained several severe brain injuries and internal bleeding, and eventually fell into a coma. He was later transported to King Abdulaziz Medical City in the Saudi city of Riyadh, where he remained in a coma until his death.

Over the two decades that Al-Waleed was in a coma, his father opted to keep him on life support and often shared social media footage of himself and other family members praying for his son's recovery.

Several of Khaled's posts over the years went viral, garnering millions of views as he prayed for his son and continued to celebrate special occasions by decorating the prince's hospital room for holidays, including Ramadan, Eid and Saudi National Day.

Al-Waleed never regained full consciousness, but his father often shared footage of his minor physical responses, such as lifting his hands and fingers.

Over the years, the prince also drew many in-person visitors, who would visit his hospital room and pray alongside his father and brothers, per the Mirror.

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[Skitarii]

Who keeps shaving this nigga in the goofiest way possible?

 

[Battlefield2142EU]

Who keeps shaving this nigga in the goofiest way possible?

Good question. I rather die than be shaven In such a gay way.

 

[Monolith]

I doubt Allah would be that mad if you pulled the plug after a decade of this.

 

[ToroidalBoat]

Did the kid have amazing adventures like the "Ash in a coma theory" claims?

 

[Crex Crex]

I read about this guy a week ago... did I kill him?

 

[Tanuki Mixed Nuts]

Ah yes, "36" year old man who spent over half his life in a non responsive coma. At that point waking up would probably be hell anyways. Should've let the kid die a decade ago or more.

 

[The Last Stand]

Ah yes, "36" year old man who spent over half his life in a non responsive coma. At that point waking up would probably be hell anyways. Should've let the kid die a decade ago or more.

How would that feel? You’re sentient where you WANT to do something but you’re perpetually stuck in comatose with no control. Shoot, I’d rather be dead. At least it’d be a conclusion.

 

[Tinnitus]

I doubt Allah would be that mad if you pulled the plug after a decade of this.

It's always keep them alive until a natural death or it's to hell with you.

Atleast Dede had fifteen years of a normal life.

 

[The greater a'tuin]

The house of Saud is scum, but this befalling a teenager is terrible, how does a brain even break so hard it never awakens for 2 decades?

 

[ZsaZsaBinks]

Over the two decades that Al-Waleed was in a coma, his father opted to keep him on life support and often shared social media footage of himself and other family members praying for his son's recovery.

Makes me think about Terri Schiavo.

 

[frozen_runner]

Poor kid. His poor parents.

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

I doubt Allah would be that mad if you pulled the plug after a decade of this.

Life support is more for the family's sake than the patient's sake after a certain point. They should have pulled the plug when it was clear he was basically dead, but I get why they didn't. It's hard to accept when a loved one isn't coming back.

 

[ToroidalBoat]

At that point waking up would probably be hell anyways.

Atleast Dede had fifteen years of a normal life.

Can you imagine going into coma as a teenager in the '00s, and then coming out of that in a world of "smartphones" and "social media", "social justice" in and from the West, while being in the body of a full-grown man and yet with the mind and experience of a teen boy?

 

[Kuritan Deplorable]

Can you imagine going into coma as a teenager in the '00s, and then coming out of that in a world of "smartphones" and "social media", "social justice" in and from the West, while being in the body of a full-grown man and yet with the mind and experience of a teen boy?

Dude woulda been a reverse Isekai. But at least as a grown Saudi Prince, he'd be able to achieve the teenage boy fantasy of a full harem.

 

[Rootless Cosmopolitan]

Poor kid. The death of a child is always sad and this person, despite his body being 36, was just a kid.

 

[Pokemon Conquistador]

I saw a documentary of a woman that fell into a coma at 18 and woke up 20 years later. The only person in her life by then was her best friend from school, who frequently visited her. The woman was only partially awake and had a body messed up from being still so long, but she thought she was still 18 and dressed like a valley girl from the 1980s. I hear the "Awakenings" patients who went into comas after getting meningitis in the 1920s also had trouble adjusting to their new times after they woke up. Imagine going to sleep as a Flapper in your 20s, a party girl with dark hair and a whole future ahead of you and waking up as an old woman in the 1960s.

In a way, I'm glad this kid never woke up. He should be young forever, not some blob sitting in a hospital bed with tubes in him.

 

[TowinKarz]

Ah yes, "36" year old man who spent over half his life in a non responsive coma. At that point waking up would probably be hell anyways. Should've let the kid die a decade ago or more.

Especially a Saudi Prince... those aren't exactly an endangered resource.... shake a fig tree and 5 or 6 of em' fall out.

You can practically burn em' for heat..... the Royal House of Saud beheads like a dozen of em a year for blowing the limits on their MasterCards........ and we haven't come close to running out.

 

[Bland Crumbs]

Who?

Two words.

 

[twodogsinacoat]

He could have been the next garfieldeats guy but now we will never know. Such is the cruelty of life.