Michael Schumacher Battles Pneumonia As Doctors Try To Bring Him Round

Formula One legend Michael Schumacher has developed pneumonia as medical staff work to bring him out of an artificial coma. Seven-time world champion Schumacher has been in a coma for six weeks, following his skiing accident in the French Alps. German newspaper Bild is said to have close links to the racing star and reported he is being treated with strong antibiotics, as his team of specialists try to ascertain how serious his condition is. Grenoble University Hospital where Michael is being treated  Pneumonia is among the greatest life-threatening conditions that can afflict people in Schumacher's position. The absence of a competent swallowing mechanism can cause saliva to run into the lungs and trigger the respiratory infection. Andreas Pingel, medical director of the Centre for Spine Surgery and Neuro-Traumatology at the BG Hospital in Frankfurt told Germany's Focus Magazine; "About 30 to 50 percent of all patients who lie in a coma as long as Michael Schumacher has get it." According to Bild, Schumacher’s doctors are not yet sure if the ‘recovery phase’ - the slow decrease in anaesthetic to bring Schumacher round from the coma he has been in – has been affected. His spokeswoman Sabine Kehm refused to comment on the report, saying only it was "speculation, and I do not comment on speculation."