Legendary Formula One racing driver Michael Schumacher suffered life-changing injuries during a skiing accident 12 years ago and hasn’t been seen since as his family care for him privately
It has been more than a decade since Formula One legend Michael Schumacher suffered a devastating accident that changed his life forever.
The racing driver is yet to be publicly seen after suffering catastrophic injuries in the French Alps during Christmas 2013. At the time of the accident, the German driver had been skiing with his family before he lost control and hit his head on a rock.
The now 56-year-old suffered serious damage to his head, with his helmet ultimately saving his life. Following the incident on December 29, the seven-time world champion was left fighting for his life. Since then, his condition has been shrouded in mystery as his family fight to protect his privacy.
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Health updates have been few and far between. Most recently, Finnish neurosurgeon Dr Jussi Posti told Finnish media outlet Iltalehti that he felt Michael was unlikely to “lead an active life”.
German broadcaster Felix Gorner echoed these sentiments, describing Michael as “a person who can no longer express himself through language,” adding that it is “a very sad state of affairs.”
His wife Corinna, 56, son Mick, 26, and daughter Gina-Maria, 28, have been subjected to blackmail over the years. Earlier this year, three men were found guilty of using photos and videos of Michael to blackmail the Schumachers for nearly £13million.
More than 900 photos and almost 600 videos, as well as confidential medical records, were digitally smuggled out of their house. The sensitive content was stored on two hard drives and four USBs.
Police seized all but one of the hard drives which is yet to be found. Corinna has sworn those around her husband to secrecy over his condition to maintain his dignity. Only those trusted have been granted access to see the star, with the house under strict security protocols.
Court documents from earlier this year further described him as “partly helpless, in need of care and visibly marked” by his injuries. Sources have said that he communicates without words, mainly through his eyes, with only a select few trusted people permitted to visit, including former Ferrari colleagues Jean Todt and Ross Brawn and ex-driver Gerhard Berger.
When the crash happened, the racing driver’s helmet absorbed much of the force, but the severity of the impact cracked the shell and fractured his skull, leading to a brain injury. He was quickly transported to hospital by air ambulance and medics carried out two life-saving surgeries to reduce pressure on the brain.
At the time, it was confirmed that the star was fighting for his life and was in critical condition. It wasn’t until April 2014 that the family released their next statement, in which they said Michael had shown “moments of consciousness and awakening”.
The following summer, it was confirmed that Michael was out of the coma and was moved to a rehabilitation facility before returning home to his family.
Late in 2014, fellow former racing driver Philippe Streiff said Michael was paralysed and used a wheelchair.
Philippe, a good friend of Michael’s who also uses a wheelchair after a racing accident, said: “He is getting better but everything is relative. It’s very difficult. He can’t speak.
“Like me, he is in a wheelchair paralysed. He has memory problems and speech problems.” Ex-Ferrari boss Jean Todt said that his miraculous survival was the result of Corinna’s steely determination – but that it had come at a price.
He told Bild: ‘I’ve spent a lot of time with Corinna since Michael had his serious skiing accident on December 29, 2013. She is a great woman and runs the family. She hadn’t expected that. It happened suddenly and she had no choice. But she does it very well. I trust her, she trusts me. Thanks to the work of his doctors and the cooperation of Corinna, who wanted him to survive, he survived – but with consequences.”
Corinna has described her husband as “different”, while son Mick – who has followed in his father’s footsteps into F1 – said Michael’s illness means he’s unable to communicate.
In 2019, he was widely reported to have undergone stem cell treatment in a bid to regenerate his nervous system. Le Parisien reported he was admitted for transfusions of inflammation-reducing stem cells, and also quoted an unnamed nurse who claimed Michael had shown signs of recovery.
“Yes he is in my service,” the nurse revealed. “And I can assure you that he is conscious.” However, the racer is believed to have developed muscle atrophy and osteoporosis after being bed-bound.
‘Close relatives’ reportedly spoke with the French magazine ‘Paris Match’ ahead of his 50th birthday in January 2019. The magazine quoted one as saying: “When you put him in his wheelchair facing the beautiful panorama of the mountains overlooking the lake, Michael sometimes cries.”
In September 2020, he said he had seen Michael that week, who was “fighting.” Later that month it was reported that Schumacher had been spending more time in Majorca.
Elisabetta Gregoraci, ex-wife of former F1 team boss Flavio Briarote, was quoted in Spanish press saying: “Michael doesn’t speak, he communicates with his eyes. Only three people can visit him and I know who they are.”
In 2021, Corinna gave a rare insight into her husband’s health on Netflix documentary SCHUMACHER, admitting she desperately longs for the partner she had before the accident.
“I miss Michael every day. But it’s not just me who misses him. It’s the children, the family, his father, everyone around him,” she said.
“Everybody misses Michael, but Michael is here – different, but here. He still shows me how strong he is every day.” Confirming that he lives at the family home in Switzerland, she said the fight continues to help Michael get better, but insisted she wanted to keep his trials and tribulations private.
She continued: “We live together at home. We do therapy. We do everything we can to make Michael better and to make sure he’s comfortable. And to simply make him feel our family, our bond. And no matter what, I will do everything I can.
“We all will. We’re trying to carry on as a family, the way Michael liked it and still does. And we are getting on with our lives. It’s very important to me that he can continue to enjoy his private life as much as possible. Michael always protected us, and now we are protecting Michael.”
Since his surgeries, little to no information has been shared about the procedures the star may have had. His son, Mick, 26, raced for Haas before becoming a reserve for Mercedes, and has given few interviews but has said his biggest heartbreak is that he can’t discuss the sport with his father.
He said: “Since the accident, of course, these experiences, these moments that I believe many people have with their parents, are no longer present or to a lesser extent. And in my view, that is a little unfair.
“I think me and dad, we would understand each other in a different way now. Simply because we speak a similar language – the language of motor sport – and that we would have a lot more to talk about. And that is where my head is most of the time. Thinking that would be so cool… I would give up everything just for that.”
The family’s lawyer, Felix Damm, explained why his close circle have chosen to remain silent on the matter.
“It has always been a matter of protecting private information,” he reportedly told the Mail. “We also considered whether a final announcement about Michael’s state of health could be the right way to go about it. But that wouldn’t have been the end of it and there would have had to be permanently updated ‘water level reports,” he explained.
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