Grenoble, France - A German tabloid report that Formula One legend Michael Schumacher had contracted pneumonia was “speculation,” his manager Sabine Kehm said on Wednesday.
The daily Bild reported that Schumacher was on strong antibiotics to treat a severe lung infection that he had contracted last week. This came as doctors have been slowly attempting to bring him out of the coma that was induced following a skiing accident on December 29 in the French resort of Meribel, in which he suffered serious head injuries.
WAKING UP
Kehm said she would not comment on speculation, and that - as always - reports about Schumacher's health that were not from either the physicians or his management - must be regarded as speculative.
In Januanry, Kehm had said that Schumacher's sedation was being reduced to start the waking up process from the induced coma. But she said the “waking up process ... may take a long time.”
TWO OPERATIONS
Schumacher was skiing with his 14-year-old son, Mick, when his skis hit a rock, causing him to lose balance and fall headlong, striking another rock. He was taken to a hospital in Grenoble, and has been in a medically induced coma ever since. The 45-year-old has been operated on twice.
Schumacher won a record seven F1 world titles and retired from the sport for a second time in 2012.
Sapa-dpa