Michael Schumacher being brought out of coma after French ski crash

Doctors treating former Formula One champion Michael Schumacher say the process of bringing him out of a coma has begun.

The retired racing driver has been in a stable but critical condition for more than four weeks in a hospital in the eastern French city of Grenoble.

He suffered severe head injuries after a skiing accident in the French Alps late last year and has since been in a medically-induced coma.

Schumacher, 45, slammed his head on a rock while skiing off-piste with his 14-year-old son in the French Alps resort of Meribel.

His manager Sabine Kehm said his sedation was being reduced to allow the waking up process, which she said could take a long time.

Doctors have used sedation to help reduce the swelling on his brain and his condition is described as stable.

Schumacher’s family have remained at his bedside in the French hospital since he had an operation to remove two blood clots after the accident.

Investigators have been trying to determine how fast Schumacher was skiing when he hit the rock. French police have said the slope was properly marked.

ABC/Reuters