The seven-times Formula 1 champion is currently being kept under anaesthetic at the University Hospital in France.
But Professor Heinzpeter Moecke says waking him may leave him in a 'permanent vegetative state'.
Warning: Waking Michael Schumacher from his
artificially-induced coma could plunge him into a natural one, Professor
Heinzpeter Moecke has warned. Above, Schumacher is pictured with his
wife Corinna in Italy.More pics below...
Injured: Prof Moecke says waking the Formula 1 legend may leave him in a 'permanent vegetative state'
'There is unfortunately the risk that in sneaking out of a deep artificial sleep the patient is then in a waking coma,' said Professor Moecke, director of the Institute for Emergency Medicine at the Asklepios Clinic in Hamburg.
'This would mean a permanent vegetative state where Schumacher would effectively be paralysed.'
However, he said that even if the F1 legend does not plunge into another coma, doctors may be forced to send him into a 'light sleep'.
'Waking up from an artificial sleep can leave the patient initially confused, not sure of who he is or where he is,' he said.
Treatment: Schumacher is currently being kept under anaesthetic at the University Hospital (above) in France
'If he is so agitated and attempted to remove tubes from his body, the doctors could induce him into another light sleep.'
Schumacher, 45, has been at the hospital in Grenoble since he fell and hit his head on a rock while skiing in the French resort of Meribel on December 29.
However, doctors believe that the toughest phase in his recovery is yet to come.
They have warned his wife Corinna, and children Gina Marie, 16, and son Mick, 14, that it could take weeks for all of the sleeping drugs to be out of his body.
During this time, Schumacher will be under constant scrutiny to detect any movement at all.
And even if he does come around, he may require intensive physical and speech therapy over a series of months, if not, years.
Culled From The Daily Mail
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