F1 legend Michael Schumacher 'out of coma'

F1 champion Michael Schumacher has left hospital in Grenoble and is no longer in a coma, his family says.

The 45-year-old has been transferred to Lausanne university hospital in Switzerland, officials there say.

Schumacher was placed in a medically induced coma after suffering a severe head injury in a skiing accident in the French Alps on 29 December.

His family thanked people who had sent messages of support, saying: "We are sure it helped him."

They also praised the "excellent job" of medical staff at the hospital in Grenoble, in south-east France.

Doctors had kept the seven-time champion in a coma to help reduce swelling in his brain.
"Michael has left the CHU Grenoble to continue his long phase of rehabilitation. He is not in a coma anymore," Schumacher's manager, Sabine Kehm, said in a statement on behalf of his family on Monday.

"For the future we ask for understanding that his further rehabilitation will take place away from the public eye," she said, without giving further details.

Relatives have previously warned that "it was clear from the start that this will be a long and hard fight for Michael".

The BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva reports that the university hospital in Lausanne is one of Switzerland's most renowned.

He will have a team of specialists, and his own private accommodation, and he will be much closer to his family home on the shores of Lake Geneva, our correspondent says.

But it is not clear what Schumacher's condition is and his process of recovery is still expected to be a long one, she adds.

Monday's statement was the first substantial update since early April when Ms Kehm said the German racing driver was showing "moments of consciousness and awakening."

A true legend, wish him a full and quick recovery.

Chuffed for him, although it remains to be seen what kind of a recovery he'll make, fingers crossed it's a full one although I can't see it!

I doubt he will ever drive again, however I hope he recovers enough to have a quality life with his family!

Let's hope he hasn't watched the Iran v Nigeria match or he'll have slipped back into one (the coma).

Let's hope he hasn't watched the Iran v Nigeria match or he'll have slipped back into one (the coma).

No, he woke up cos he didn't want to miss our 4:0 v Portugal...

A true legend, wish him a full and quick recovery.

doctors said the other day he would never come out of the coma, but it is great news proved the doctors wrong

Apparently only 15% of patients with his severity of brain injury recover and by recovery I mean a serious but manageable disability. It looks bleak but positive news and has given himself a chance.

Best of luck to him.

I don't think he will ever fully recover but if he can get a quality of life that's decent then I think it would be fantastic.