Michael Schumacher 'is showing small signs of progress'

Speaking on live television, the driver's manager Sabine Kehm spoke of the F1 legend's recovery and how his 'little bit of progress makes us very happy.'Miss Kehm told German broadcaster ARD: 'There are short moments of consciousness and he is showing small signs of progress.'There are moments when he is awake and moments when he is conscious.'Of course I am not a doctor, but medically, there is a distinction between being awake and being conscious, the latter meaning there is an ability to interact with his surroundings.'I don't want to disclose details out of respect for the family, but we have no doubt at all in the abilities of the doctors treating Michael, they are experts in their field.'Doctors put Schumacher into a medically induced coma after he hit his head on a rock while skiing at the French resort of Meribel on December 29.Miss Kehm insisted Schumacher will be brought out of the coma - but did not indicate how long the process would take.She added that if and when Schumacher is moved to a rehabilitation clinic - to begin the long recovery process of learning to speak and move again - his state of health will become a 'private matter' and no more news will be forthcoming.She said: 'Michael Schumacher is in a coma and can not decide what is reported about him. We of course know how he deals with such things and try in his interest to handle these matters for him.'Her words this evening come just hours after International Automobile Federation president Jean Todt said the driver was still 'fighting' for his life and his future remains uncertain. 'I see him very often and he's still fighting. He's fighting and we can only hope and pray that it will improve over the future,' Todt told journalists on the sidelines of World Touring Car Championship race in Marrakech.'It has been a tragedy this accident. A tragedy for Michael, a tragedy for his family.'Michael is in very good hands with fantastic dedicated doctors in the hospital in Grenoble.'Obviously, I'm very close to him, to the family,' Todt added.Tonight, Miss Kehm told interviewer Guenther Jauch of the extreme lengths some fans have gone in order to get close to the driver in hospital.She said one man was stopped by security before he got on to Schumacher's intensive care ward at the University of Grenoble Hospital posing as his father Rolf. In another instance two people who wanted to take a photo of the 45-year-old racing driver on mobile phones were halted by bodyguards in the hospital lobby.Schumacher suffered severe brain injuries in a low-speed ski run on the slopes of the French resort and had to be airlifted to hospital where he underwent two emergency operations.  Since then he has reportedly lost almost half his body weight and has fought back from a potentially life-threatening bout of pneumonia.(dailymail.co.uk)ANN.Az