Seven-time world Formula 1 champion, Michael Schumacher is slowly being woken from his medically induced coma and is responding positively to treatment, according to a report in the French sports newspaper L’Equip.

Schumacher has been in a coma since December 29 after a skiing accident in France in which he struck his head on a rock and is now in his fifth week of being comatose.

Sources told the French sports newspaper that medical staff attending him began a “gradual awakening” yet there are speculative fears he could remain in a vegetative state even if the awakening process is successful. The patient’s ultimate recovery often remains uncertain.

“After four consecutive weeks in a coma, Michael Schumacher has been placed, according to our information, in a phase of gradual awakening. It is a slow and uncertain process of return,” the newspaper wrote.