Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Michael Schumacher latest: F1 racing driver is unable to talk and ‘in and out of consciousness’

Michael Schumacher came out of his coma earlier this week

Ella Alexander
Wednesday 18 June 2014 17:36 BST
Comments
Michael Schumacher before his retirement from Formula One
Michael Schumacher before his retirement from Formula One

Michael Schumacher is drifting “in and out of consciousness” and is still unable to talk, revealed a source close to the family.

It had previously been reported by German newspaper Bild that the F1 driver, who emerged from his coma this week after six months, was communicating with his family and was able to respond to his wife’s voice.

However, the communication is reportedly not yet verbal. Schumacher was transferred to University Hospital Lausanne on 16 June, close to his family home, where he will continue his rehabilitation.

He is expected to stay at the facility for a long period of time, according to Darcy Christen, head of media at CHUV Lausanne.

“It won’t be days. It could be for the long-haul,” he said.

However, the move from Grenoble hospital to Switzerland was a “big step mentally” for his family.

“The transfer doesn’t mean that his condition improved markedly in the last few weeks. But he no longer needed to be in intensive care and a programme of rehabilitation is now under way,” a source close to the family said.

“He is still going in and out of consciousness but he is having more moments of consciousness more regularly than in April.

“He certainly can’t talk but there is some degree of communication.

“His doctors and family speak to him but he gets tired very quickly and needs a lot of rest. So this is kept to a minimum.”

The F1 driver suffered severe head injuries during a skiing accident on 29 December in the French resort of Meribel.

Medical experts have warned that he has only a one in 10 chance of making a full recovery, despite coming out of the coma and his former doctor, Gary Hartstein, says that he could only be "minimally conscious".

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in