Zanardi discharged from hospital and transferred for further recovery

Alex Zanardi has moved to a new facility to continue the treatment of the head and facial injuries he suffered last month. The former Formula 1 driver rode his handbike into a truck at high speed last month and had to be taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Zanardi was kept in an artificial coma at the Santa Maria alle Scotte hospital near Siena. The team that treated him started lowering Zanardi's level of sedation five days ago to get him out of his coma.

In a statement released Tuesday, the hospital confirmed that Zanardi's sedation had been suspended. The Italian can now be transferred to a specialized recovery and rehabilitation center.

The general director of the Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Senese, Valtere Giovannini, says: "our professionals remain at the disposal of this extraordinary person and his family for the further stages of clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic development, as always happens in these cases."