Central Park Attack Victim Improves

The woman beaten, raped and left for dead in Central Park called her father “dad” Thursday for the first time since the attack two weeks ago, doctors said.

The latest breakthrough came just one day after doctors at Metropolitan Hospital in Manhattan announced that she had emerged from her two-week coma.

“Neurologically, the patient continues to progress but she also has continuing abnormalities. She called her father ‘dad’ today for the first time and she remains alert for the most part,” said Dr. Robert S. Kurtz, director of the hospital’s surgical intensive care unit.

The 28-year-old investment banker was found in the early morning hours of April 20 in a wooded ravine in the northern part of the park. Doctors say she may have permanent brain damage.

Six youths have been charged in the attack.

The victim, who remained in critical condition, is alert most of the time and can handle small multiplication tables in her head, but she has experienced short-term memory loss and disorientation about place and time, Kurtz said.