honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 3:27 a.m., Monday, February 9, 2009

Skiing: Doctors delay skier Albrecht's wake-up from coma

Associated Press

INNSBRUCK, Austria — Doctors slowed down a procedure to wake Swiss skier Daniel Albrecht from an induced coma Monday because of a complication affecting his lungs.

The 25-year-old Albrecht has been kept unconscious with brain and lung injuries following his World Cup downhill training crash in Kitzbuehel, Austria, on Jan. 22.

Doctors had to remove liquid from Albrecht's lungs which resulted from an infection of the organ, the hospital where he is being treated said in a statement.

The complication led to a slight delay of the wake-up procedure, which was started Saturday and would normally take up to three or four days, the Innsbruck University hospital said.

Albrecht's brain injury remained without any complications, the hospital added.

Albrecht, who won two World Cup races this season, was the 2007 super-combined world champion. His successor is to be determined in Val d'Isere, France, later Monday.