On tenth anniversary of ski crash horror, his family’s fight for privacy, his recovery and how his wife’s unfaltering love has kept the family going
By David Averre and Tamara Prenn and Perkin Amalaraj
01:49 29 Dec 2023, up to date 01:53 29 Dec 2023
- Michael Schumacher’s profession boasted seven F1 World Championships alongside a blinding array of information
- But he has not been seen in public since struggling a extreme mind harm in a horrific snowboarding accident in 2013
- Ten years to the day since his crash, MailOnline opinions a decade of uncertainty and asks what comes subsequent
Few names in the realm of elite sport evoke the identical reverence and awe as Michael Schumacher.
A veritable motorsport legend and titan of the Formula One paddock, Schumacher’s profession boasted seven F1 World Championships alongside a blinding array of information, and he’s thought-about by many to be the best driver of all time.
But on December 29, 2013, his life was swiftly and irrevocably altered by a tragic accident, which at the time appeared scarcely plausible – and cruelly ironic.
Schumacher had expertly piloted the world’s most savagely quick and harmful machines for greater than 15 years, reaching unparalleled glory earlier than retiring in good well being in 2012 aged 43.
But one 12 months later whereas on a family vacation in the French Alps, the pace demon was caught out in a freak fall mere metres away from a preferred ski slope that resulted in vital head accidents.
The sporting icon has remained hidden away from the public eye ever since, with Schumacher’s well being journey over the previous decade shrouded by an virtually impenetrable veil of secrecy.
Now, ten years on from that fateful day – and simply 5 days shy of his 55th birthday – MailOnline recaps what we find out about the extent of Schumi’s accidents, examines the scraps of element that slipped by way of the tightly managed data bubble, and speculates on what the future might maintain for the racing icon.
The accident and the aftermath
It was a fantastic bluebird morning on the picturesque slopes of Méribel, a famend ski resort in the French Alps, on the day Schumacher suffered his near-fatal crash.
The seven-time World Champion was having fun with a family vacation simply over a 12 months on from the remaining race of the 2012 Formula One season wherein he had introduced his second, and remaining, retirement.
He had taken to the slopes with his then 14-year-old son Mick, and the pair had launched into a seemingly routine snowboarding tour when catastrophe struck.
While descending the extremely standard Combe de Saulire route, Schumacher opted to enterprise off-piste, coming into right into a small sliver of uncombed powder between Piste Chamois and Piste Biche that was peppered with small rocks.
The grasp driver was additionally a extremely adept and dedicated skier – his ability was such that he had a run named after him at the Italian resort of Madonna di Campiglio, the place Ferrari hosted its annual winter retreat.
But regardless of the comparatively mild gradient and the quick distance of the off-piste part, a hidden hazard was mendacity in wait. The snowfall had hid some of the boulders from view, turning the powder paradise right into a minefield.
Schumacher’s skis clipped one such boulder and the sudden drive catapulted him into the air – leaving him powerless to keep away from a head-first collision with one other rock.
The affect was devastating. Schumacher’s helmet absorbed a lot of the drive, however the severity of the accident cracked the onerous shell and fractured Schumacher’s cranium, resulting in a traumatic mind harm.
Ski patrollers and a helicopter rescue group arrived at the scene inside minutes, with eyewitnesses claiming Schumacher was acutely aware after the accident, however was unable to reply questions and was shifting erratically.
Recognising the severity of the scenario, the rescue group shortly immobilised him and transported him to the close by Moutiers Hospital, the place he arrived at 11:53am.
From there, a helicopter airlifted him to the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Grenoble, a number one medical facility outfitted with a specialised neurosurgery unit, for two lifesaving surgical procedures to scale back stress on the mind.
A later investigation deemed Schumacher was travelling at a traditional pace and was not snowboarding past his skills at the second of his accident. But it’s thought his accidents – which might have virtually definitely been deadly had the former driver not been carrying a helmet – had been exacerbated by a February 2009 bike accident wherein he suffered fractures in his head and neck.
Reporting simply hours after the first surgical procedure, the hospital’s chief anaesthesiologist Jean-Francois Payen mentioned that the ex-driver was ‘combating for his life’ in vital situation, and judged that it was ‘a really critical scenario’.
‘We cannot actually say when he’ll get well – we can not reply this but,’ he concluded.
The hospital was underneath a strict safety cordon, with solely trusted guests allowed to go to Schumacher.
His spouse Corinna, daughter Gina-Marie, and Mick had been at his bedside, and they had been later joined by shut family pal, and former Ferrari group principal and CEO, Jean Todt.
Schumacher’s medical group was boosted by Professor Gerard Saillant, a mind and backbone harm knowledgeable and shut pal of Schumacher, who carried out a second surgical procedure on a hematoma on the left facet of his mind.
The driver survived each surgical procedures towards the odds, however remained in vital situation for a number of weeks.
By April 2014, Schumacher was being withdrawn steadily from the medically induced coma, a course of that was accomplished in June 2014.
He then travelled to Lausanne University Hospital for steady rehabilitation, earlier than leaving the facility in September to the £50m Schumacher family residence in Gland, Switzerland, on the banks of Lake Geneva.
In 2018, rumours started that Schumacher had secretly been moved to a personal mansion on the Spanish island of Majorca by his spouse Corinna, which had been compounded in 2020 when Elisabetta Gregoraci – the ex-wife of Schumacher’s former boss at Benetton Flavio Briatore – made comparable claims.
‘Michael would not communicate, he communicates with his eyes,’ Gregoraci mentioned whereas showing on Italy’s model of actuality TV present Big Brother.
‘They moved to Spain and his spouse has arrange a hospital in that home. Only three individuals can go to him and I do know who they’re,’ she mentioned.
But her claims had been extensively refuted by Schumacher’s family, supervisor and different sources, and it’s extensively accepted he stays in Switzerland.
A veil of secrecy, an almost catastrophic leak… and an AI blunder
Despite a worldwide outpouring of grief and help in equal measure following Schumacher’s accident, his spouse Corinna, whom he married in 1995, has insisted on whole secrecy over his situation.
The rule has been faithfully noticed by Schumacher’s family members, buddies and wider entourage, who imagine the racer and his speedy family deserve privateness to keep up his dignity.
None however a trusted few are granted entry to his bedside amid strict safety protocols, which have inevitably given rise to a quantity of rumours over Schumi’s situation.
But this can be a value price paying for Corinna and Schumacher’s supervisor Sabine Kehm, who mentioned a number of clandestine makes an attempt to see Michael had been launched simply days after his accident.
In such try, a journalist dressed as a priest had tried to realize entry to Schumacher’s hospital room underneath the pretence of bestowing a blessing upon the stricken racer.
‘I would not have ever imagined one thing like this might occur,’ Kehm advised Die Welt at the time.
But six months later, Schumacher’s family would undergo one other try to show particulars of his predicament.
Stolen medical information and the £1milion picture from inside Schumacher’s home
Schumacher’s privateness has seen many individuals strive and money in on the data vacuum.
An government at the helicopter air rescue firm that transferred him from a French hospital to Switzerland six months after the crash allegedly tried to steal his medical information and promote them to a number of European media retailers for €50,000 (£40,000).
French prosecutors tracked the IP tackle of the laptop utilized in the theft to Rega, the most important operator of air ambulances in Switzerland. At the time, the firm acknowledged it had acquired a medical file to help in Schumacher’s transfer, however strenuously denied being concerned in the theft.
Prosecutors from France and Switzerland managed to hint the alleged theft again to the air rescue government, who was promptly arrested and positioned in a jail cell in Zurich.
But the subsequent morning, hours earlier than he was scheduled to go earlier than courtroom, officers discovered the man’s lifeless physique hanging in his cell.
Authorities didn’t launch the man’s title, age, or nationality. But Zurich’s prosecutor’s workplace mentioned at the time that he had acted alone, and that there have been no indications that he was mentally unstable or suicidal.
‘We are at a loss for phrases and deeply shocked,’ Kehm mentioned at the time, however added that any publication of the ‘clearly stolen’ medical file would lead to prosecution, which meant the notes by no means noticed the mild of day.
One 12 months later, the family narrowly prevented one other catastrophic leak.
An unnamed ‘pal’ granted entry to Schumacher’s residence managed to snap an image and smuggle it out.
The picture was allegedly being bandied about to European media teams with a price ticket of a million euros.
But German prosecutors swiftly intervened, declaring the {photograph} and its tried sale constituted a ‘violation of his private vary of life’ and a breach of privateness.
The picture by no means surfaced, and to at the present time there have by no means been any pictures of Schumacher taken after the accident.
The ‘world unique first interview’ that was really made up by an AI chatbot
Earlier this 12 months, a German journal slapped a picture of the F1 driver’s face on its entrance web page, claiming it had secured the first interview with Schumacher since his December 2013 snowboarding accident.
Immediately, questions had been requested about how Die Aktuelle managed to get the long-reclusive Schumacher to talk on the report given the extent of his accidents, to not point out his family’s ruthless dedication to guard his privateness.
The article, which didn’t function a byline, quoted Schumacher as saying that his life had ‘completely modified’ since his accident.
‘That was a horrible time for my spouse, my kids and the entire family,’ ‘Schumacher’ added.
‘I used to be so badly injured that I lay for months in a sort of synthetic coma as a result of in any other case, my physique could not have handled all of it.’
But the interview, printed in April, ended with an admission that the quotes had been made up, and that the journal had not spoken to Schumacher, or any of his family members.
‘Did Michael Schumacher actually say every little thing himself? The interview was on-line. On a web page that has to do with synthetic intelligence, or AI for quick,’ the now extensively derided piece concluded.
It was later revealed that the journal used character.ai, an internet site infamous for permitting customers to generate ‘conversations’ with celebrities, to faux the interview.
The penalties had been swift and dire for Die Aktuelle. The then-editor, Anne Hoffmann, was virtually instantly fired, with the managing editor of Funke, the journal’s writer, stating at the time: ‘This tasteless and deceptive article ought to by no means have appeared.’
One German media knowledgeable labelled the stunt ‘too silly to be true’.
The controversy round the faux interview was so robust that the Schumacher family deliberate to sue the publishers, although later seemingly backed off.
The thriller over Schumi’s present state of well being – and what these near him have revealed thus far
Very little is thought about the present state of Schumacher’s well being as a result of the aforementioned strict privateness controls put in place by Corinna and his interior circle. Several of his good buddies and former colleagues asking to see the racer have been turned away.
Schumacher’s former Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello had his request turned down on the recommendation that ‘it might not do him or me any good’.
A 12 months after the accident, Schumacher’s former supervisor Willi Weber claimed that he had tried ‘dozens of instances’ to hunt permission to see his previous consumer, however had been denied, laying the blame at the toes of Corinna ‘stopping him’ from making contact with Schumacher.
He later accused the family of withholding ‘the entire reality’, and earlier this 12 months admitted that he had given up hope of ever seeing him once more.
And former Jordan group proprietor Eddie Jordan – who gave Schumacher his first begin in the sport with a one-off driver at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix – revealed that he had been equally sidelined, however mentioned that he understood the family’s coverage of strict privateness and a closer-than-close interior circle.
Since the preliminary surgical procedures, little has been shared about the completely different procedures Schumacher might have undergone in a bid to enhance his situation. But in 2019 it was reported that he underwent stem cell remedy in a bid to revive his nervous system, present process the cutting-edge process at the Georges Pompidou European Hospital in Paris.
Treated by famend cardiothoracic surgeon Phillippe Menasche, Schumacher arrived for his procedures in an ambulance flanked by a 10-person-strong safety group. It is assumed that Schumacher might have had a second spherical of the remedy a 12 months later, however that is unconfirmed.
Following the remedy, reported by French outlet Le Parisien, medical workers mentioned that Schumacher was ‘acutely aware’, however gave no additional data.
Besides this, a number of key people in Schumacher’s interior circle have over the years revealed some perception into the legend’s present situation.
Corinna Schumacher – loving spouse, mom and the family rock
Corinna has shouldered a lot of the accountability for defending her husband’s privateness and marshalling his interior circle since his accident. But previous to the tragedy, she was an inextricable half of his wild success as he rose to superstardom.
She is an completed equestrian and sportswoman in her personal proper, having gained a European Championship in 2010, and additionally turned a shrewd businesswoman, serving to Michael and their advisors to make useful enterprise choices and investments as he racked up unbelievable sums of cash from race wins, profitable contracts and sponsorships.
Speaking to German outlet Bild, Corinna’s buddies mentioned: ‘She was and nonetheless is underestimated by many at the moment,’ including that Michael was one of the few who really understood simply how robust she is.
The racer spoke very extremely of his spouse in a number of interviews over the course of his profession, brazenly declaring they made choices collectively and that she was a supply of immense power.
Corinna has given only a few interviews since 2013, as an alternative specializing in sustaining her husband’s privateness, managing his property, and constructing world famend horse ranches in Switzerland and Texas.
But the 2021 Netflix documentary ‘Schumacher’ noticed Corinna open up greater than ever earlier than.
Sharing her enduring love for her husband, she defined how she misses their previous life collectively, however affirmed that the man she married continues to be there.
‘I miss Michael on daily basis. But it is not simply me who misses him. It’s the kids, the family, his father, everybody round him,’ Corinna mentioned.
‘Everybody misses Michael, however Michael is right here. Different, however right here. He nonetheless reveals me how robust he’s on daily basis.
‘I’ve by no means blamed God for what occurred. It was simply actually dangerous luck – all the dangerous luck anybody can have in life.’
Corinna additionally mentioned how she felt as if ‘guardian angels’ had been watching over Schumacher’s comparatively untroubled racing profession.
‘I do not know if it is only a type of protecting wall that you just put up your self or if it is since you’re in a approach naive – but it surely merely by no means occurred to me that something may ever occur to Michael,’ she mentioned.
Jean Todt – boss, pal, and family confidante
Former Ferrari group principal and FIA president Todt stays one of Schumacher’s closest public-facing buddies, and is believed to go to his former driver frequently to look at F1 races collectively.
Over the final decade, Todt has remained a trusted mouthpiece for the family, and the most seen particular person in the Schumacher firmament to supply particulars on Schumacher day-to-day.
‘I see Michael fairly often – a few times a month,’ the 77-year-old mentioned in 2020. ‘(When requested how he’s) my reply is the identical all the time – he fights.’
The closest Todt has come to commenting straight on his pal’s well being was in 2019, when he steered Schumacher’s capability to speak is extraordinarily restricted.
‘Of course, our friendship cannot be the identical because it as soon as was, simply because there isn’t any longer the identical communication as earlier than,’ he mentioned.
Then earlier this 12 months, Todt was adamant that, while he didn’t miss Schumacher as a result of he’s nonetheless ‘right here’, ‘he’s merely not the Michael he was once’.
‘His life is completely different now and I’ve the privilege of sharing moments with him,’ Todt continued. ‘That’s all there’s to say.
‘Unfortunately, destiny struck him ten years in the past. He is now not the Michael we knew in Formula 1.’
Mick Schumacher – persevering with his father’s legacy
Schumacher’s son Mick was simply 14 years previous at the time of his father’s accident, which he witnessed first-hand, having accompanied his dad on the ill-fated tour.
Since then he has grow to be the most public-facing member of the family, carving out his personal path in motorsport.
He scooped titles in each Formula 3 and Formula 2 junior classes on his strategy to F1, the place he secured a two-year stint as a driver for American constructor Haas.
He was finally let go at the finish of the 2022 season as Haas struggled to compete with bigger, extra profitable groups, however was retained as a reserve driver by the Mercedes F1 group, which his father helped to launch again in 2010. He is now set to compete for constructor Alpine in the 2024 FIA world Endurance Championship.
Mick has additionally paid homage to his father’s profession a number of instances on the observe in heartwarming exhibition occasions. He drove his father’s 1994 Benetton F1 automotive in present laps at Spa in 2017, piloted the record-breaking Ferrari F2004 at the Mugello racetrack in 2020, and most just lately sported his father’s unique Mercedes overalls and race helmet when driving at Goodwood’s Festival of Speed this summer season.
A chip off the previous block, Mick is an especially articulate and affable particular person, and regardless of his dedication to keep up his father’s privateness he has usually supplied touching insights into their relationship.
He has additionally regularly mentioned the affect of his father’s staggering legacy in motorsport, saying that Schumacher had at all times advised him to ‘do what you love’, giving him confidence to maneuver from karting up the ranks of motorsport earlier than his F1 debut.
In 2018, Mick described his dad as ‘his idol’.
‘It’s by no means straightforward (to think about my dad’s profession),’ Mick mentioned. ‘What my dad did was extraordinary. I admire it extra on daily basis.
‘I at all times wish to examine myself to the finest, and my father is the finest. He’s additionally my idol. I’m happy if I can examine myself to him.’
In a heart-rending scene in the Netflix documentary, Mick mentioned he wished he may speak to his father about his burgeoning profession and, whereas on the verge of tears, added that he would ‘quit every little thing’ for the alternative to easily talk about F1 collectively.
‘Since the accident, of course, these experiences, these moments that I imagine many individuals have with their dad and mom, are now not current or to a lesser extent. And in my opinion, that may be a little unfair,’ Mick mentioned.
‘I feel me and dad, we’d perceive one another another way now. Simply as a result of we communicate the same language – the language of motorsport – and that we’d have much more to speak about.
‘And that’s the place my head is most of the time. Thinking that might be so cool… I’d quit every little thing simply for that.’
Ralf Schumacher – brother and fellow racer
Whilst Schumacher’s speedy family – together with his father Rolf, who lives shut by the family home on Lake Geneva – stay extraordinarily near their patriarch, different family members, together with Schumacher’s brother Ralf, have drifted.
Ralf just isn’t in shut contact with Schumacher’s speedy family, however says he’s at all times there to supply help.
‘When I see his kids Gina-Maria and Mick, my coronary heart smiles,’ Ralf shared with German journal Bunte in November as he detailed his distant relationship with the family.
‘If somebody in the family is wanting for my recommendation, I’m there. They go their very own approach.’
The former F1 driver admitted: ‘I miss the Michael of the previous days. Life is unfair every now and then. Michael was very fortunate all through his life. But then there was this tragic accident.’
Ralf, who gained six F1 Grand Prix, emphasised that Michael had been extra than simply his older brother.
He advised native media: ‘Michael wasn’t solely my brother. When we had been youngsters, he was additionally my coach and mentor. He taught me actually every little thing about kart racing.’
Ralf mentioned: ‘There could also be an age hole of seven years, however he was at all times by my facet. We raced collectively, we practised overtaking manoeuvres and every little thing that issues in motorsports.’
The former Jordan and Williams driver underlined: ‘He handed on all the various things he had already internalised. I had the honour to be taught from the finest.’
Summing up Michael’s dire predicament, the 48-year-old entrepreneur and pundit added: ‘Fortunately, superior medical science gives many alternatives. However, nothing is prefer it was once.’
Will we ever see Schumacher in public once more?
If the first decade since the accident is something to go by, these hoping to see the motorsport icon in public or obtain a conclusive replace on Schumacher’s situation are prone to be met solely with disappointment.
In November, the family’s lawyer Felix Damm defined why his interior circle had chosen to not share an in depth replace on his well being.
‘It has at all times been a matter of defending personal data. Of course, we had rather a lot of discussions about how to try this.
‘We additionally thought-about whether or not a remaining announcement about Michael’s state of well being could possibly be the proper strategy to go about it. But that would not have been the finish of it and there would have needed to be completely up to date ”water degree reviews”, he defined, suggesting that Schumacher’s situation is evolving.
‘The media may take up such a report once more and once more and ask: ”And how does it look now?”, one, two, three months or years after the report. And if we then needed to take motion towards this reporting, we must cope with the argument of voluntary self-opening.’
Damm recognised that the lack of data leaves Schumacher’s legions of devoted followers with out a solution as to the situation of their stricken hero, however argued that those that really supported Michael would perceive the family’s want for privateness.
‘I imagine that the overwhelming majority of followers can cope with it properly and additionally respect the undeniable fact that the accident has set in movement a course of wherein the personal sanctuary is important and will now proceed to be revered.’
One glimmer of hope has been offered nevertheless by Todt, who’s one of only a few people in addition to speedy family members to see Schumacher frequently.
‘I hope the world will have the ability to see him once more. That is what he and his family are working in direction of,’ he mentioned.
It stays to be seen whether or not Schumacher will ever make such a public return. But there isn’t a query that his sheer mastery behind the wheel of a Formula One automotive, and the optimistic affect he had on the lives of thousands and thousands round the world, will dwell on.
