Michael Schumacher will be permanently invalid, according to recent opinion offered by a leading neurology expert.
"He will forever remain an invalid [and] always remain dependent on the help of others," Swiss neurologist Dr. Erick Riederer said in an interview with 20 Minuten. "I enjoy being surprised, but there are hardly any cases that have [seen] recovery so completely without damage."
The Zurich-based neurologist also noted that Schumacher has likely become "skeletal" after being bedridden for six months.
"It would be a success if he could sit up unaided again after three months," Riederer observed. "Maybe he will be able to control an electric wheelchair in six months -- depending on whether he can move his finger."
Riederer's pessimism was reflected by the sentiments of former F1 physician, Dr. Gary Harstein.
"We're told what we already know, and pretty much told not to ever expect further updates," Harstein wrote on his blog last Monday. "This all leaves a very bad taste in my mouth and a huge space of sadness for Michael's family."
It was confirmed that Schumacher come out of the coma, and was already being transported from the French hospital where he was staying.
"Michael has left the CHU Grenoble [hospital] to continue his long phase of rehabilitation. He is not in a coma anymore," said Sabine Kehm, Michael Schumacher's manager.
"His family would like to explicitly thank all his treating doctors, nurses and therapists in Grenoble as well as the first aiders at the place of the accident, who did an excellent job in those first months."
Kehm also explained to the press that the F1 racing legend will continue his treatment "away from the public eye", without elaborating on his condition. Not long after, major new agencies disclosed Schumacher's current location at the University Hospital of Lausanne in western Switzerland.
Schumacher has been hospitalized since last December after suffering serious head trauma in a skiing accident in the French Alps. Doctors had artificially placed the seven-time world champion in a coma to reduce the chance of a potentially-lethal brain hemorrhage.
