The oldest child that Josef Fritzl fathered by his own daughter is on the road to recovery, has been reunited with her family and the first thing she asked for after a lifetime of being held in a dank cellar was to go to a Robbie Williams concert.

Doctors treating the family have described the “emotional reunion” as well as the dramatic moment when the 19-year-old awakened after more than a month in a coma.

Albert Reiter, who has been in charge of Ms Fritzl’s treatment, told a press conference on Tuesday: “She opened her eyes for the first time at 9am on May 15 and slowly started showing signs of emotional reaction. We smiled at her and she smiled back. Later I said ‘Hi’ to her and she replied with a ‘Hello’. It was an intensely dramatic moment.

“I am especially proud that [she] could walk the distance to her new residence and into her new life,” Dr Reiter added. Ms Fritzl saw daylight for the first time in her life after she awakened in the intensive care ward of the Amstetten regional hospital. According to Dr Reiter, the first wish that she expressed to her carers was to go on a boat trip and to attend a Robbie Williams concert.

Commentary: a society that nurtures secrets

What society would accept the probability of three children being left on the doorstep of Josef F and grant him adoption?

Multimedia

• Pictures: house of horror

BACKGROUND

• Why are child abuse scandals happening in Austria?

• Analysis: damage caused may never be healed

• Brutal double-life of Josef Fritzl emerges

• Police search other Fritzl properties in Austria

Related Links

• The monster in the cellar

• Fritzl 'insanity plea' to dodge prison

“Even immediately after she awakened and still had the tracheotomy intubation for the breathing assistance in her throat she would listen to Robbie Williams until 3am. I then would have to intervene for her to turn down the music and get some rest,” Dr Reiter said. According to him, Ms Fritzl is able to read and write, communicates easily and is on the road to a full recovery.

She is now living with her mother Elisabeth, 42, and five siblings, as well as her grandmother and Mr Fritzl’s wife Rosemarie, 68, in a new apartment made available by the hospital that they are being treated in. Ms Fritzl’s mother visited her daughter regularly during her stay in the hospital. Doctors insisted on her presence, and claim that her being with Ms Fritzl immediately after she was awakened had had an “immensely positive effect”.

Christoph Herbst, a lawyer who represents the Fritzls, described the family reunion as a miracle and thanked the medical team for their achievement. He said: “It was a truly touching and happy moment. It was everyone’s — and especially [the eldest daughter's] — great wish to be reunited.”

Ms Fritzl will now be given vaccinations to boost her weak immune system and, depending on her wish, she could also be given counselling after the preliminary medical treatment. She is suffering from “bed rest syndrome”, a fatigue of the nerves and muscles after a prolonged period of immobility.

It was also revealed that Ms Fritzl had been examined to determine whether or not she had suffered sexual assaults by her father but doctors could not reveal details of the examinations.

Berthold Kepplinger, another doctor, said that the family spoke of their father and that their relationship to him was “largely ambivalent”.

Mr Herbst made a renewed plea to the media to respect their privacy and said: “It is very important, especially for the children who spent their entire lives in a cellar, to be able to experience nature.”

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