Michael Schumacher's family have made the first positive statement regarding the condition of the Formula One racing legend since a tragic skiing accident late last year that required doctors to put him in a coma in order to treat blood clots in his brain.

"We are and remain confident that Michael will pull through and will wake up,” Schumacher's family said in the statement. “There sometimes are small, encouraging signs, but we also know that this is the time to be very patient."

After the accident at a French ski resort on December 29, Schumacher was rushed to nearby Grenoble University Hospital Center where he was put in an induced coma and had surgery performed to treat haemorrhaging in his brain. Doctors started the waking process in late January, a process that they say can take a long time and is ongoing at present.

The statement from Schumacher’s family is reproduced in its entirety below:

"We are and remain confident that Michael will pull through and will wake up. There sometimes are small, encouraging signs, but we also know that this is the time to be very patient.

Michael has suffered severe injuries. It is very hard to comprehend for all of us that Michael, who had overcome a lot of precarious situations in the past, has been hurt so terribly in such a banal situation.

It was clear from the start that this will be a long and hard fight for Michael. We are taking this fight on together with the team of doctors, whom we fully trust. The length of the process is not the important part for us.

It is heart-warming to see how much sympathy his family is shown and I can say that the family is extremely grateful for it. However, it should not be forgotten that Michael's family is dealing with an extremely intimate and fragile situation. And I would like to remind all of us that Michael has always actively kept his family out of the public eye and consequently protected their private lives.

We try to channel all the energies we have toward Michael and we firmly believe that this will help him. And we believe that he will also win this fight."

Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher is reported to have lost 25 percent of his body weight since doctors placed him in an artificially induced coma to help him recover from brain injuries sustained in a skiing accident last December.

Schumacher’s weight had dropped from twelve stone to just under eight and a half stone in the 83 days since he was placed in a coma, according to reports in German media.

“Weight loss in coma patients is normal,” Professor Dr Kurt Diehm, a coma expert at Germany’s Karlsbad teaching hospital told Bild. “One must assume that his muscles have degraded considerably because of his immobility,” he added.
The 45-year-old suffered a serious head injury after striking a rock during a skiing accident in the French resort of Meribel in late December. He is being treated at a hospital in Grenoble where his family including his wife Corinna, is maintaining a bedside vigil.

Officially, the injured driver is now in a “wake-up” phase as doctors gradually reduce his drug intake in an attempt to bring him out of his coma. Yet signs of a recovery have been minimal. “His family is incredibly strong, they won’t let themselves be discouraged,” the driver’s manager Sabine Kehm earlier this week.

She added that Schumacher was is still in a “wake-up phase” and stressed that he had not yet woken up. “We are still waiting for this to happen but we have learned to accept that it can take a long time,” she added.

Doctors are reported to have told Schumacher’s family that the driver’s chances of recovery are minimal. Last month, Germany’s Focus magazine reported that complications had obliged doctors to halt Schumacher’s wake-up process and that the driver had been put back into a coma.

Schumacher’s management team denied the report.

A manager for Michael Schumacher has revealed some good news today about the condition of the injured Formula One legend, saying in a statement that Schumacher has started showing some moments of consciousness.

"Michael is making progress on his way," Schumacher's manager Sabine Kehm said in the statement. "He shows moments of consciousness and awakening."

Kehm added that Schumacher's family remain confident but are hesitant to disclose further details due to privacy and to ensure the medical team can work in full calmness.

The latest statement is the second morsel of positive news to emerge since Schumacher’s tragic skiing accident at a French resort on December 29, 2013, where the winner of seven F1 titles sustained serious injury to the right side of his head after falling and hitting a rock. Last month, Schumacher’s family released a statement saying they saw “small, encouraging signs.”

Schumacher, 45, is being treated at Grenoble University Hospital Center in France where he was put in an induced coma soon after his fall and had surgery performed to treat haemorrhaging in his brain caused by the impact of his head on the rock. Some of the clots were inoperable because they were too deeply embedded in his brain tissue.

Doctors started the waking process in late January, a process that they say can take a long time and is ongoing at present.

Report: Schumacher responding to voices and making eye contact

Last week, Michael Schumacher’s manager, Sabine Kehm, informed the media that the seven-time Formula 1 World Champion was showing “moments of consciousness and awakening.”

Now, three months after his skiing accident in the Alps, media reports are coming through that Schumacher is responding to voices and making eye contact with others at the French Grenble University Hospital.

Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Schumacher is making encouraging eye movements and Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper says he is responding to voices.

Former Formula 1 driver and close friend of the family, Jean Alesi, has visited Schumacher many times since the 45-year old German’s accident and says that the news is much more encouraging.

“First, Michael responded only to pain, when he was pinched for example,” said Alesi in a report by Speed Week. “But that can also be an unconscious reaction of the body.

“During my last visit I realized that something was beginning to change for the better. I felt with the family some relief, a great joy about how things were developing. It is fabulous, even though the path back to life is still long.”

Former Ferrari teammate and close friend of Schumacher, Felipe Massa, seemed to confirm at Bahrain that Schumacher is responding to voices.

“I cannot really put into words how excited I am about it … I prayed every day for Michael and they were answered. Now I hope to continue to hear good news from Grenoble.”

Ferrari drivers and staff have gathered to send a message of hope to Michael Schumacher and commemorate his first Formula One victory at the Spanish Grand Prix with the team he led to five world championships.

Drivers Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen flanked new team principal Marco Mattiacci among about a hundred team members in front of a sign saying "Remembering your first win with us #forzamichael."

Schumacher suffered a serious head injury in a skiing accident in December and was placed in a drug-induced coma. In April he showed some signs of consciousness.

Schumacher won his first race with Ferrari in 1996 in Montmelo. He went on to win five of his seven world titles with the Italian team.