Michael Schumacher "may never be the same" says British brain expert

Michael Schumacher "will not be Michael Schumacher any more" and may have to learn how to eat, talk and walk if he ever comes out of his coma, a British brain expert has warned.

Professor Peter Hutchinson, of Cambridge University, says the Formula One racing champion may never be the same after a ski accident in France left him in a medically induced coma.

According to the Daily Star, Professor Hutchinson told Germany's Focus magazine: "It is not as if someone will switch on the light and the patient is all there. He will probably come back to a world he doesn't know.

"He's coming back into a world where everything has changed. He will return to a reality to which he is not accustomed.

"Michael Schumacher will not be Michael Schumacher any more."

According to the Daily Mirror, he added: "He must find their way to cope with the new conditions, new needs to learn basic skills. Talk, eat, walk - perhaps nothing is as easy as it once was."

Swiss skier Daniel Albrecht, who sustained brain and lung trauma and was placed in an induced coma for three weeks after a ski crash in Kitzbühel in 2009 told the Daily Record: "When one wakes up you must start from zero."

Michael's manager Sabine Kehm spoke of his condition at the end of April, saying that he appears to be recovering slowly.

"Michael is making progress. He is showing moments of consciousness and wakefulness. We remain confident," she said, according to German media.

"There are moments when he is awake and moments when he is conscious, which make us happy and give us great courage. Of course I am not a doctor, but medically, there is a distinction between being awake and being conscious, the latter meaning there is an ability to interact with his surroundings."

"I don't want to disclose details out of respect for the family, but we have no doubt at all in the abilities of the doctors treating Michael, they are experts in their field."

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