Albrecht’s wake-up procedure stopped

Published 3:44 pm Sunday, February 1, 2009

INNSBRUCK, Austria — Complications forced doctors to stop a procedure to wake Swiss skier Daniel Albrecht from the induced coma he was put in following a World Cup downhill training crash 10 days ago.

The 25-year-old reigning super-combined world champion is being given artificial respiration to deal with the complication affecting his lungs, the Innsbruck University hospital said in a statement Sunday.

Doctors have tried to deal with the problem by a slight reduction of the coma, but the hospital said his condition “has not improved and Daniel Albrecht was put into a deeper coma again.”

The same complication occurred Thursday following minor bleeding in his lungs that has since stopped, the hospital said.

Albrecht suffered brain and lung injuries following a crash in training for a race in Kitzbuehel, Austria.

Albrecht has two World Cup victories this season and four overall.