LAUSANNE - Formula One champion Michael Schumacher was transferred from a French hospital to a facility in Switzerland on Monday after emerging from a coma following his devastating ski accident in December. In a surprise announcement, the retired German racing star's spokeswoman Sabine Kehm said he had left hospital in the French Alpine city of Grenoble, where he had been treated since December 29 when he slammed his head on a rock while skiing with his son and friends.
The 45-year-old was transferred to a hospital in the Swiss city of Lausanne where he will be undergoing further treatment, hospital spokesman Darcy Christen told AFP. Stressing the hospital's commitment to privacy, Christen said Schumacher's family was with him "in a space created especially to ensure their intimacy and to ensure the best possible care." The Lausanne hospital has renowned neurology experts and Schumacher, his wife Corinna and two children live nearby in the small town of Gland.
Dozens of journalists were parked in front of the facility, but in a country that fiercely respects privacy, the crowd was far smaller than it was in December when news of his accident in the French skiing resort of Meribel attracted throngs of media and fans to the Grenoble hospital.
In a statement, the seven-time world champion's spokeswoman Kehm said his family wanted to "thank all his treating doctors, nurses and therapists in Grenoble as well as the first aiders at the place of the accident, who did an excellent job in those first months."
"For the future we ask for understanding that his further rehabilitation will take place away from the public eye," she said. She gave no further details about Schumacher's condition, which has been kept under a tight lid since his accident. The racing star underwent two operations to remove life-threatening blood clots after the freak accident that shocked the world, before being plunged into a medically induced coma.
His family announced at the end of January that drugs used to keep him in his deep sleep were being reduced with a view to bringing him back to consciousness. Since then, Kehm had said he was showing short moments of consciousness, but few other details had filtered out and it is still unclear as to what the future holds for the man who cheated death countless times on the racing tracks. Doctors say some patients only show signs of improvement several years after their accident, and in an April interview with German broadcaster ARD, Kehm said that "a medical prognosis is not possible" due to the nature of his brain injury.
News of his transfer to Lausanne was welcomed by Schumacher's close friend Lukas Podolski, the German footballer who is currently in Brazil for the World Cup. "What a great news!!! Get well soon Schumi!!! I'm so glad and happy when I just heard it!!" he tweeted. Known as the "Red Baron" in reference to an ace World War I German fighter pilot, Schumacher made his debut in 1991 and dominated Formula One not long after.
A ruthless and at times controversial competitor, the German won an unprecedented 91 races, and seven world titles including five in a row with Ferrari from 2000 to 2004. He first retired aged 37 but was unable to resist the lure of the track. In 2010, he came out of retirement but failed to re-enact his previous performances, and he quit for good in 2012. Retirement did not dull his relish for adrenaline, however, and he kept pursuing thrill-seeking hobbies as the holder of a pilot's license, an accomplished motorbike rider, parachutist, skier and mountain climber. He survived a motorbike accident in Spain in 2009, during which he suffered head and neck injuries but was released from hospital after just five hours -- a far cry from his December skiing crash.
In her statement Monday, Kehm said Schumacher's family wanted "to thank all the people who have sent Michael all the many good wishes". "We are sure it helped him," she added.