Formula 1 Ace Michael Schumacher Emerges From 6-Month Coma

The dominant Ferrari driver is now in long-term rehab.

After languishing for nearly six months in a coma few experts expected him to survive, seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher regained consciousness on Sunday and was checked into a rehab center. “Michael has left the CHU Grenoble [hospital] to continue his long phase of rehabilitation. He is not in a coma anymore,” his spokeswoman, Sabine Kehm, said in a statement this morning. Schumacher, 45, had retired for the second time after a three-year stint with the Mercedes Petronas AMG  team and was skiing with his 14-year-old son, Mick, at the sprawling Meribel resort the Swiss Alps this past January when he fell and hit his head on a rock. Schumie, whose worst injury in his 18-year career was a hair fracture in his tibia, was wearing a helmet at the time.

There is no official information about Schumacher’s condition or long-term prognosis, but by waking up he’s already defied the overwhelming chorus of talking heads, who as recently as June 3 were “virtually certain” that fans should expect the worst.

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