Doctors hope Best can come off ventilator

Doctors treating George Best were today hoping that he could recover further and come off his ventilator.

The football legend partly regained consciousness yesterday and was able to move his head and eyes.

The 59-year-old is in the intensive care unit at the Cromwell Hospital, west London, after he suffered a severe setback and a lung infection.

Professor Roger Williams, who is treating the former Manchester United and Northern Ireland star, said Best had shown signs of improvement but warned against giving hope that he would make a full recovery.

He went on: “All of us have been very excited by the fact that when the sedation was removed he regained some level of response.”

But the doctor said yesterday he was “not confident about recovery”.

“He’s so generally ill and can be affected very easily by any infection, by any setback that occurs in ITU (intensive care unit) but nevertheless he’s better than he was.

“What we hope is over the next 24 hours his brain will recover further so that he can come off a ventilator.”

Prof Williams said Best’s kidneys were “under control” in terms of infection.

He added: “He’s still on the ventilator but one has to be very clear that he is alive, his brain is working and he’s partly conscious.”

Prof Williams said Best was a “tremendous fighter”.

He continued: “None of us have seen anybody come through as many serious complications as he’s had. He must be a very strong person inside.”

Best’s family are maintaining a bedside vigil.

He was admitted to hospital on October 1 suffering from flu-like infections.

His health deteriorated rapidly earlier this month when he developed a kidney infection.

His condition was thought to be improving until the early hours of Friday when he suffered a severe setback, developing a lung infection.

Prof Williams said he had been receiving emails from people around the world telling him how best to treat the star.

“So far I have resisted,” he said.

Best’s agent Phil Hughes said the star had been receiving “lots and lots of messages of support”.