Setback For Schumacher: Plans To Lift Coma Abandoned

Doctors in France are said to have abandoned plans to lift Michael Schumacher from his medically-induced coma. According to German magazine Focus, efforts had been underway at the University Hospital of Grenoble over the past few weeks to gradually reduce the amount of anaesthetic being given to the 45-year-old in an attempt to bring him back to full consciousness. However, it is now understood that the plan has been abandoned due to "complications", with no further details on his condition being released. The seven-times world champion has remained in a coma since injuring his head in a skiing accident in late December. Focus, which is believed to have a close relationship with Schumacher's family, has said that the recovery phase is being put on hold and the F1 driver is being medicated to keep him under.  The coma was initiated by doctors immediately after the accident as Schumacher's brain injury was so severe that doctors needed to suppress its normal functions to allow it to operate at low-speed and maximise the chance of recovery.