The Britain’s Telegraph newspaper cited a source close to the Schumacher family – who are otherwise fiercely guarding the former Ferrari and Mercedes driver’s privacy – as confirming the 45-year-old is ‘drifting in and out of consciousness’. And Darcy Christen, the Lausanne university hospital’s head of media, confirmed that Schumacher’s stay “won’t be days. It could be for the long haul”.
“The transfer doesn’t mean that his condition improved markedly in the last few weeks. He is still going in and out of consciousness but he is having more moments of consciousness more regularly than in April. He certainly can’t talk but there is some degree of communication. His doctors and family speak to him but he gets tired very quickly and needs a lot of rest. So this is kept to a minimum,” he added.
The report also said Schumacher’s moments of consciousness are brief, but that he is sometimes able to communicate by using his eyes. “It will be a very long journey, and it is hard to say what will be the outcome,” Christen said. “Whatever happens, it will take a lot of patience.”