Lewis Hamilton excited by news that Michael Schumacher is no longer in a coma
Seven-times World Champion transferred to hospital in Switzerland near to family home; 'Long phase of rehabilitation' now underway
Tuesday 17 June 2014 15:23, UK
Lewis Hamilton says he is ‘excited’ and encouraged by the news that Michael Schumacher has woken from his coma over five months after suffering life-threatening head injuries in a skiing accident.
Hamilton replaced Schumacher in 2012 at Mercedes when the seven-times World Champion retired from the sport after three seasons with the Silver Arrows. Both Hamilton and team-mate Nico Rosberg’s have carried a message of #KeepFightingMichael on their cars this year, and the team tweeted on Monday: “Encouraging news on Michael’s condition this morning. We couldn’t ask for a better start to the week.”
Confirmation that Schumacher is no longer in a coma and has left Grenoble Hospital in southern France was the first official update on the German’s condition since early April.
“It’s amazing news,” said Hamilton. “Everywhere I go people ask about him, whether it’s the States or Canada. I could be in the petrol station and people ask about him. I always keep him in my thoughts and prayers. It’s a real positive to hear that there’s some progress. I’ve been trying to keep an ear out for what’s going on but not really hearing much improvements.
“To hear that he is really in that wake-up phase is just really encouraging and it is exciting, and the next step, and hopefully this is the first step on the ladder.”
Rosberg, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button were also among those to welcome the news on twitter on Monday.
The 102-word update released on behalf of Schumacher’s family by his long-time manager Sabine Kehm thanked both medical staff and well-wishers for their assistance and support during the 170 days the 45-year-old spent at Grenoble Hospital but contained no further details on his condition other than confirmation he was out of his coma.
Schumacher has been transferred to University Hospital of Lausanne, approximately twenty miles from the family home on the shore of Lake Geneva. “He is here, he arrived this morning," a spokesman acknowledged. “The family are in a separate part of the hospital where their privacy can be best protected and where Michael Schumacher can obtain the highest level of care.”
With Schumacher’s family reporting in their statement that Michael is now ‘in long phase of rehabilitation’ and requesting ‘understanding that his future rehabilitation will take place away from the public eye’, it is likely to be weeks, if not months, before a further update on his recovery is released.
