Formula One legend Niki Lauda wakes up from induced coma following lung transplant
Three-time world champion 'breathing on his own' in Vienna hospital as Mercedes chief Toto Wolff praises his incredible power and resilience
FORMULA 1 legend Niki Lauda has reportedly woken up for his artificial coma following a lung transplant.
The motor racing world was shocked on Thursday when it emerged the three-time world champion had undergone a transplant after becoming ill.
The Mercedes chief was hit with the flu on holiday in Ibiza but it developed into a more sinister matter and led to the 69-year-old being rushed into major surgery.
He was then placed in a coma to improve his recovery with media outlets in – although a long road to full health lies ahead.
On Friday, Walter Klepetko, the attending physician at the General Hospital in Vienna, revealed in a television interview with Austria's Oe24 that Lauda had been kept alive for the last seven days ‘only by a pump, a sort of heart-lung machine.’
The hospital added doctors were ‘very, very happy with the developments’ following the transplant after ‘not very easy circumstances.’
Four-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has been among those to wish the racing legend well in his recovery.
Mercedes non-executive chairman Lauda was instrumental in helping to lure Hamilton away from McLaren ahead of the 2013 season.
Hamilton wrote on Instagram: “Send you all my love, prayers and support, Niki. Wishing you a speedy recovery.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff also provided an update on the team president’s health following surgery and looked forward to welcoming him back to their ranks.
He said: “The world knows Niki as an F1 legend with incredible power and resilience.
“For all of us at Mercedes he is our chairman, our mentor and our friend.
“We have missed him by our side in Hockenheim and Hungary and can’t wait to have him back with us on the grand prix tracks of this world.
“The recovery he now faces is not a race. But knowing Niki, I’m sure he will soon be telling every nurse and doctor that he has had enough of the hospital.”
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Lauda won three world titles as a Formula One driver in 1975, 1977 and 1984 with Mercedes and Ferrari.
He was famously caught up in a horrific incident in 1976 when his car turned into a fireball after a crash at the German Grand Prix.
He came close to death, sustaining numerous injuries, including his lungs being damaged after inhaling the toxic fumes, but remarkably returned later in the season to finish the Championship as runner up.