F1 Champ Michael Schumacher Reportedly 'Out Of Coma'

The last bit of news regarding Michael Schumacher's skiing accident was slightly positive, and now we have definitely good news from his family's spokesperson: "He is not in a coma anymore."

This comes via the BBC:

"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".

Amazing, although we still don't know the condition he's in. I hope the news keeps getting better.

Dr. Gary Harstein, the former F1 doctor who has been on top of a lot of this, says this may not be news in his latest blog post.

So what does that mean? Sabine is a professional. At the beginning of April, she told us Michael had moments of awakening AND of consciousness. Once again, by saying this, she told us in almost clinically perfect language that Michael was no longer in a coma. She used two terms that only specialists actually distinguish; for laymen being awakeand being conscious are the same thing. This language, then, clearly was used based on discussions with Michael's care team, and reflected a highly accurate description of his minimally conscious state.

Now, we're told, with what appears to be a bit of a triumphal air, that Michael is no longer in a coma. As stated above, THIS IS NOT NEWS. I cannot help but think that this is a highly cynical use of language, using the truth to convey an impression that is almost certainly false. I cannot but think that if Michael had emerged AT ALL from the minimally conscious state that Sabine so accurately described in April, we'd be told that Michael is leaving for rehab, that he is having problems expressing himself and will work hard to get better. Or that he's having to learn to walk,read, write, etc all over again. But no, we're told what we already know, and pretty much told to not ever expect further updates.

(Hat tip to Mickey Heth!)