Cissy Houston: Granddaughter Bobbi Kristina Brown No Longer in a Coma but Has ''Irreversible Brain Damage''

Mother of Whitney Houston says the family continues to hope for a miracle

By Natalie Finn Apr 21, 2015 2:14 AMTags
Bobbi Kristina BrownJim Spellman/WireImage

Ultimately, what Bobbi Kristina Brown's family seems to be able to agree on is that they love her and they want to see her get better.

In response to a flurry of updates prompted when Bobby Brown said during a concert that his daughter was "awake" and he felt that she was watching him, grandma Cissy Houston said Monday night that the 22-year-old remained in an unresponsive state.

"I have just returned from visiting my granddaughter Bobbi Kristina in the hospital and while she is no longer in a medically induced coma she has a tracheotomy and according to the doctors she has global and irreversible brain damage and remains unresponsive," the mother of the late Whitney Houston said in a statement obtained by E! News.

Frank Mullen/WireImage

"Meeting with the doctors and understanding that she can live in this condition for a lifetime truly saddens me," Cissy added. "We can only trust in God for a miracle at this time. Keep us in your prayers."

She had said in a radio interview last month that there was "not a great deal of hope" that her granddaughter would truly recover.

Bobbi Kristina was transferred from Atlanta's Emory University Hospital to a rehabilitation facility after about two months spent on a ventilator.

On Jan. 31, longtime boyfriend Nick Gordon called 911 after a friend of his found Bobbi Kristina facedown in a bathtub full of water in the condo she shared with Nick, and she's been hospitalized or otherwise under a doctor's care ever since. Gordon entered rehab last month for drug and alcohol abuse following an intervention that aired on Dr. Phil.

Brown's wife, Alicia Etheredge-Brown, sought to clarify her husband's comments from the other night, saying today her step-daughter has "made it out of ICU, opened her eyes, and started a rehabilitation that will be long and hard."

Added Brown's attorney, "Bobbi Kristina's condition has changed since moving from Emory University Hospital and there has been improvement. Doctors have indicated that she will have a long life. However, Bobbi Kristina is presently embarking on a rehabilitation process and the quality of her life will not be known for years to come."