An expert has admitted he is alarmed by reports Michael Schumacher has lost a quarter of his bodyweight whilst laying comatose in France.
Although the great German’s family, manager Sabine Kehm and close friend Jean Todt insist they have not given up on the hope of full recovery, almost 12 weeks have now passed since the former Ferrari and Mercedes driver’s skiing fall.
We reported early last week that the 45-year-old, who weighed about 75kg when he crashed on the Meribel slopes, has apparently lost twenty kilograms in hospital.
Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport and the major German daily Bild-Zeitung are now also reporting that Schumacher now weighs just 55 kilos, which means he has lost more than a quarter of his former bodyweight.
"While a weight loss in coma patients is normal, 20 kilos is a lot for people with normal body weights," said Prof Dr Curt Diehm, of the Karlsbad teaching hospital in Germany.
"One must assume that his muscles have degraded greatly due to the immobility," he surmised.