Tests On Miner Show Brain Activity
Despite Coma, Mine Blast Survivor Showing Signs Of Mental Activity
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Play CBS Video Video Honoring The Last Coal Miners The last two funerals for the men who died in a coal mine explosion in the Sago, W.Va., will be held today The lone survivor, Randal McCloy, is still in critical condition.
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Video Sago Mine 911 Tape Released A 911 recording reveals that first responders thought that most of the miners who were trapped had survived. Meanwhile, the lone survivor remains hospitalized. Randall Pinkston reports.
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Video 'The Miracle Miner' The only person to survive the Sago, W.Va., coal mine tragedy remains in critical condition. However, Randall Pinkston reports that doctors are hopeful Randal McCloy will survive.
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West Virginia University Hospital's Dr. Julian Bailes, briefs the media about miner Randal McCloy, Jr.'s medical condition Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2006, in Morgantown, W.Va. (AP)
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Randal McCloy Jr. at his 2001 wedding. (CBS/EARLY SHOW)
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John Groves escorts his mother Wanda following the funeral service for Jerry Lee Groves, Jan. 8, 2006, in Cleveland, W.Va. (AP)
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A makeshift memorial on the front lawn of the Barbour County Court House in Phillippi, W.Va. (Getty Images/Mark Wilson)
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Photo Essay Mine Explosion Tragedy unfolds after a coal mine explosion in Tallmansville, West Virginia.
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Interactive Mine Tragedy Here is a closer look at the miners who perished in West Virginia and the people who are mourning them.
Doctors say Randal McCloy has yet to fully awaken from a medically-induced coma. But they expect that — and the rest of his healing — to be a gradual, lengthy process.
McCloy remains in critical condition at West Virginia University's Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown.
Neurosurgeon Julian Bailes says tests are showing a lot of activity on both sides of McCloy's brain. But Bailes says it's too early to interpret what the activity means.
Meanwhile, funerals for the last two men (video) killed in last week's explosion brought mourners from as far away as New York. Probes are underway into both the Sago Mine disaster and overall national mining safety.
There was no significant change Tuesday morning in the condition of McCloy, 26. He remained in critical condition at West Virginia University's Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown.
McCloy has yet to fully awaken from a medically induced coma, but doctors did not express concern.
"I think we have no clear clue of the extent of his injury or the time of his recovery," Bailes said.
However, Bailes said tests showed a lot of activity on both sides of McCloy's brain.
"It is probably too early for us to tell what that means, but it is very important to us that he has a lot of brain activity," Bailes said.
But McCloy still has a fever of undetermined origins, doctors say, CBS' Aleen Sirgany reports.
Earlier, Dr. Larry Roberts of Ruby Memorial Hospital said a large step was taken toward healing.
"The ventilator to which he is still hooked up is no longer giving him mechanical breaths; he's doing all his own breathing," Roberts said.
A complete recovery may not be possible, outside experts say.
"Overall you're going to see a slowing of the patient's mental abilities ... cognitive problems, thinking, the speed at which you make decisions," Dr. Keith Siller, head of neurology at New York University Medical Center in New York, told CBS News' Tony Guida.
©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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