Motorsport fraternity left fearing the worst for a second time.
Former motorsport legend Gerhard Berger was released from hospital after suffering a skiing accident in Tyrol, Austria.
Just 10 weeks after Michael Schumacher, the man who replaced Berger at Ferrari, suffered a severe accident that left him clinging to life, the 54-year-old was lucky not to suffer the same fate.
Berger, who retired from the sport in 1997, was airlifted to St Johann hospital last Thursday after tripping on a forest road while skiing with poor visibility.
Berger is said to have crashed heavily, breaking the upper part of his arm, and was operated on during the weekend before being released yesterday.
However, Schumacher continues to struggle to survive accident, which has captured the attention of motorsport fans around the world.
The seven-time world champion has been placed under a medically induced coma since suffering a skiing accident with his family at the French resort of Meribel on December 29 last year.
Schumacher was rushed to Grenoble University Hospital where he has been in the medical coma for more than 70 days.
Neurologists have twice operated on Schumacher to alleviate swelling inside of his skull and to remove blood clots formed after the impact with the right side of his head against the rock.
The medical team hoped that there would be signs Schumacher would start to be become aware of his surroundings via eye fluttering and his fingers moving, that can not be put down to a nerve twitching.
Experts said that the greatest risk of all facing Schumacher in his prone position is pneumonia.
The lack of a competent swallowing mechanism can make saliva run into the lungs and trigger the potentially lethal respiratory infection.
He has already had — and conquered — one lung infection.
Schumacher’s blood is also thinned to prevent thrombosis and he is regularly turned and even stood straight up at times to keep it flowing.
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