16/06/2014
F1 champion Michael Schumacher has left hospital in Grenoble and is no longer in a coma, his family says.
The 45-year-old German will continue his rehabilitation at an undisclosed location, they said in a statement.
Schumacher was placed in a medically induced coma after suffering a severe head injury in a skiing accident in the French Alps on 29 December.
His family thanked people who had sent messages of support, saying: "We are sure it helped him."
They also praised the "excellent job" of medical staff at the hospital in Grenoble, in south-east France.
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Medically induced coma
Can be induced by powerful anaesthetics and is broadly similar to the sedation and artificial ventilation used during surgery
Used to shut down many brain functions, lowering blood flow and pressure
Taking a patient out of an induced coma is a delicate process, especially after a prolonged period of sedation
Doctors had kept the seven-time champion in a coma to help reduce swelling in his brain.
'Hard fight'
"Michael has left the CHU Grenoble to continue his long phase of rehabilitation. He is not in a coma anymore," Schumacher's manager, Sabine Kehm, said in a statement on behalf of his family on Monday.
"For the future we ask for understanding that his further rehabilitation will take place away from the public eye," she said, without specifying where Schumacher had been taken to.
Relatives have previously warned that "it was clear from the start that this will be a long and hard fight for Michael".