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bigbadbrother
12-29-2013, 11:03 PM
* Schumacher suffers head injury while skiing in France

* Seven-times Formula One champion taken to hospital (adds details)

LYON, France, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Retired seven-times Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher suffered a head injury in a fall while skiing off-piste in the French Alps resort of Meribel on Sunday.

The 44-year-old German was wearing a helmet and was conscious while being transported to a local hospital in Moutiers, the resort director, Christophe Gernigon-Lecomte, told Reuters.

Schumacher was transferred to a better-equipped medical unit in Grenoble for further examinations and an FIA source said he had been placed under the care of Professor Gerard Saillant, a brain and spine injury expert.

Saillant is a close friend of Schumacher's and his former Ferrari team chief Jean Todt, who is now President of the FIA.

Le Dauphine Libere newspaper reported on its website that Schumacher's condition had worsened and that his life was now endangered. It did not disclose its sources.

Schumacher's spokeswoman Sabine Kehm was unable to give any further information about his condition but confirmed he was on a private ski trip and had not been alone.

Gernigon-Lecomte said Schumacher, who has a vacation home in Meribel, had been skiing off piste.

"He fell around 11:00 am and hit a rock with his head," he added.

"It seems that he has suffered a head trauma, but I would not say how serious it is. He was conscious but very agitated while being taken to hospital."

Schumacher, whose birthday is on Jan. 3, is the most successful Formula One driver of all time with a record 91 victories among his achievements. He won his titles with Benetton and Ferrari.

He left the sport last year after a three-year comeback with Mercedes following an earlier retirement from Ferrari at the end of 2006. The German lives in Switzerland with his wife and two children.

bigbadbrother
12-29-2013, 11:04 PM
Michael Schumacher is in critical condition and has been placed in a coma as a result of a head injury he suffered while skiing in the French Alps on Sunday.

Although initial reports stated that Schumacher’s injury was not life threatening, the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Grenoble released a statement Sunday night stating Schumacher’s condition has since worsened.

The statement declared Schumacher’s condition as critical and said he was in a coma. It went on to say that the seven-time Formula 1 World Champion suffered “head trauma with coma, which required immediate neurosurgical treatment.”

Schumacher fell while skiing off-piste (unmarked slopes) in the French Meribel Resort and hit his head on a rock. Christophe Gernigon-Lecomte, director of the Meribel Resort, confirmed just after the accident that Schumacher had been wearing a helmet and was “conscious but a little agitated.”

Schumacher was airlifted to a local hospital less than 15 minutes after the accident. The 44-year-old was then transferred to the Grenoble facility where he underwent immediate brain surgery, officials said in a written statement.

Top neurosurgeon and a close friend of Schumacher, doctor Gerard Saillant, was brought to the Grenoble hospital in a police car to the retired Formula 1 driver.

bigbadbrother
12-30-2013, 06:46 PM
At a press briefing at the Grenoble hospital on Monday morning, surgeons confirmed that Michael Schumacher remains in a critical condition and is “fighting for his life.”

They confirmed that he has had only one operation thus far, to relieve pressure in his head, and that a second is not planned as of yet. Schumacher remains in an artificially induced coma.

The surgeons noted that he had suffered an impact on the right side of his head, and that without a helmet, “he would not be here.”

“He is still in a coma and he will be kept in a coma,” the surgical team said. “Everything that needed to be done has been done and is being done. At the moment we can’t really say what is going to happen, and when he will recover. We cannot answer this yet.

“He’s undergoing some treatments which are limiting the damage to his brain. We are trying to release pressure in his head. His situation is critical, it definitely is critical. We are working hour-by-hour, we cannot say anything more, we cannot speculate.

“He is in a critical situation, and we can say he is fighting for his life.”

“Despite the helmet we observes some very serious head injuries, so it was quite a big trauma to the head,” they continued. “What we observed initially was an impact on the right hand side of the head. He was agitated when he came in, he had some spontaneous movements, and he wasn’t in a normal state when he came in.”

The role of the helmet was stressed, saying aside from the severeness of the injuries, the helmet did help.

“We think that with the violence with which his head hit the ground, the helmet did help. Without the helmet, he wouldn’t be here now.

“The helmet obviously wasn’t enough to protect him completely, but it really did help.”

Meanwhile, Paris surgeon Prof Gerard Saillant, a close friend of Schumacher, said, “Honestly I came here not really as a doctor but as a friend, so I can’t really answer any technical questions.

“I am very worried just like any of his family, his children, his wife, we’re all very worried about his condition. The doctors won’t tell you more because they can’t tell you more. They are working hour-by-hour and it’s only at this level that you can take decisions.”

“Despite the helmet we observes some very serious head injuries, so it was quite a big trauma to the head,” they continued. “What we observed initially was an impact on the right hand side of the head. He was agitated when he came in, he had some spontaneous movements, and he wasn’t in a normal state when he came in.”

The role of the helmet was stressed, saying aside from the severeness of the injuries, the helmet did help.

“We think that with the violence with which his head hit the ground, the helmet did help. Without the helmet, he wouldn’t be here now.

“The helmet obviously wasn’t enough to protect him completely, but it really did help.”

Meanwhile, Paris surgeon Prof Gerard Saillant, a close friend of Schumacher, said, “Honestly I came here not really as a doctor but as a friend, so I can’t really answer any technical questions.

“I am very worried just like any of his family, his children, his wife, we’re all very worried about his condition. The doctors won’t tell you more because they can’t tell you more. They are working hour-by-hour and it’s only at this level that you can take decisions.”

bigbadbrother
12-30-2013, 06:47 PM
As details remain “hour by hour” regarding Sunday’s skiing accident and serious injury sustained by Michael Schumacher, anesthesiologist and emergency physician at the University Hospital of Liège, Belgium —a former F1 medical doctor— Gary Hartstein has provided insight into the nature of Michael’s injury.

Gary Hartstein’s medical bio: Involved in motorsports medicine since 1990. Sid Watkin’s assistant from 1997-2004. Formula 1 Medical Delegate from 2005 to 2007, then Medical Rescue Coordinator for the Championship from 2008 until 2012.

As reported originally at
Formerf1doc.wordpress.com:

First off, this press conference was rather more reassuring than what I expected. I’ll admit that I feared an announcement of a second operation for persistently elevated intracranial pressure (ICP), and the fact that that’s not been needed is good.

So what do we know now? We know that besides keeping Michael deeply asleep, they’ve also slightly lowered his body temperature. This is part of the strategy to optimise the brain’s metabolic state. Along with increasing the delivery of “good stuff” to the brain, reducing the temperature reduces the brain’s need for stuff. Therefore the supply:consumption relation is rendered more favorable.

We’ve’ been told that Michael has bilateral lesions. This mean the brain is wounded in both hemispheres. That shouldn’t surprise us. This was a hard hit. What kind of “lesions”? While we haven’t been told exactly, we can assume a mix of three types. First, the hematoma itself. This is a collection of blood that can be evacuated. That’s been done, and Michael will be examined and scanned regularly in order to detect the formation of any new hematomas, or re-accumulation of the original one.

Next are contusions. These are basically black-and-blue marks in the brain. They result from blunt forces, and consist of areas of swelling and blood that’s seeped out of the vessels into the tissues – just like when you hit your arm. In the brain, as elsewhere, that blood gets absorbed, and the damage heals. Usually fine, but sometimes leaving small cavities behind.

The third type of lesions are at the microscopic level. They consist of damage to the bundles of “cables” (axons) connecting groups of brain cells. This type of damage isn’t readily visible using standard imaging, but is often associated with “poor neurological outcome”. These lesions aren’t treated specifically; rather, they are managed by classic neuro intensive care principles – maximise brain happiness and avoid brain unhappiness.

bigbadbrother
12-31-2013, 10:02 PM
Michael Schumacher underwent a second surgery after a brain scan showed small, “surprising” signs of improvement, but grim doctors said Tuesday they could offer no insight into the prognosis for the Formula 1 champion.

Schumacher, who turns 45 on Friday, suffered critical head injuries when he fell and struck a rock Sunday while skiing on a family vacation in the French Alps. His manager confirmed that the accident cracked his helmet, which doctors credited for giving him a chance at survival.

Schumacher’s condition stabilized somewhat after the second surgery, but he remains in a medically induced coma — and doctors gave no prediction on how long that would last.

“We cannot tell you any more about the future,” said Gerard Saillant, a surgeon and friend of the family who is in Grenoble. Saillant said it would be “stupid” to make any predictions about Schumacher’s recovery.

Schumacher and his 14-year-old son were skiing in the French Alpine resort of Meribel, where the family has a chalet, when he fell and hit the right side of his head on a rock. He was taken first to a local hospital, then to Grenoble University Hospital, which is recognized as having one of France’s best neurology teams.

Dr. Emmanuel Gay, the hospital’s chief neurosurgeon, said a brain scan performed late Monday showed bruising “a little bit everywhere” in Schumacher’s brain — but also an unexpected easing of pressure.

“The brain scan was, I must say, surprising,” he said.
A Ferrari fan waits in front of the Grenoble Hospital where Formula One legend Michael Schumacher is being treated.

A Ferrari fan waits in front of the Grenoble Hospital where Formula One legend Michael Schumacher is being treated.

But he and other doctors cautioned that Schumacher’s condition was still grave after the successful two-hour surgery to eliminate the largest and most accessible bruise, on the left side of his brain.

“We cannot say he is out of danger,” said Dr. Jean-Francois Payen, head of the hospital’s intensive care unit. Payen said any neurological evaluation was “out of the question” for now.

Payen told BFM-TV on Monday that medical literature puts the recovery rate at 40 to 45 percent of patients. “I don’t work with statistics. I work with patients,” he was quoted as saying.

Schumacher was being kept artificially sedated and his body temperature was lowered to between 34 and 35 degrees Celsius (93.2 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit), to reduce swelling in the brain, reduce its energy consumption and allow it to rest.

Schumacher earned universal acclaim for his uncommon and sometimes ruthless driving talent, which led to a record 91 race wins. He retired from Formula 1 last year after garnering an unmatched seven world titles.

Schumi, as his fans affectionately call him, was famously aggressive on the track and no less intense off-hours. In retirement, he remained an avid skier, skydiver and horseback rider.

Schumacher’s manager, Sabine Kehm, offered more details on the accident, confirming that his helmet cracked on impact.

“It looks like probably that initiating a corner, he was hitting a stone which he had not seen and was catapulted down on a rock,” Kehm said in English. “That is extremely and very unfortunate … really very, very bad luck. Michael was not at high speed.”

bigbadbrother
12-31-2013, 10:03 PM
Michael Schumacher was not traveling at speed when he fell on the ski slopes on Sunday morning – and had just helped a friend who had already fallen.

Inevitably, there had earlier been speculation that Schumacher, who was skiing with his son and a group of friends, had been testing the limits, especially as his accident had happened off-course. However, that is not the case.

“Michael and the group had been skiing on slopes that were normal slopes,” longtime Schumacher spokesperson Sabine Kehm reported Tuesday. “Then there is a blue slope and a red slope, and in between there was a part which was deep snow, and Michael went into that. From everything the people told me, he was not even at high speed, because it seems that he even helped a friend who just had fallen on the piste.

“So he started to ski again, went into this deep snow, and apparently, this is what we guess, hit a rock which he had not seen when he wanted to do a curve, and he was kind of catapulted into the air and, apparently, head down, hitting another rock, which was an extremely bad and unfortunate circumstance, and not because he was speeding too much. I have spoken with several people, and also ski teachers, and they tell me it can even happen at 10 kilometers per hour. It is just very, very unfortunate.”

Meanwhile, it has emerged that a journalist disguised as a priest tried to gain access to Schumacher’s room on Monday. His identity has not been reported.

bigbadbrother
01-01-2014, 08:06 PM
Michael Schumacher’s condition remained stable over Tuesday night, and there are no developments to report.

His manager and spokesperson Sabine Kehm made a brief statement outside the Grenoble hospital this morning, and stressed that there will be no formal press conferences until there is some further news.

“Michael has been carefully supervised overnight, and his condition at the moment is stable and has been stable all over the night,” she said.

“That’s why we don’t feel the need to have to do a press conference, because as we told all of you, we would only hold a press conference if there’s something to report.”

bigbadbrother
01-02-2014, 07:42 PM
Press conferences about Michael Schumacher’s health will no longer occur, unless there is something “significant” to report.

That is the news of the injured seven-time world champion’s manager Sabine Kehm, after reporting from the hospital in Grenoble that the great German is now “stable” but still “critical” in a coma after his skiing crash.

“I think the doctors have explained very well what is the plan,” she told German television. “So we will only hold press conferences when we have significant news from the doctors to report.

“To have to report to the press every morning would hinder the doctors, and we are all very keen for them to be able to work in peace,” added Kehm.

“I will not give status reports every day, at least while the situation remains stable and there is no change, either positively or negatively.”

While the news about Schumacher’s condition is scarce, the international media interest in the fate of F1′s most successful driver remains unparalleled.

Some commentators have said the skiing fall, barely a year after he retired from F1 for the second and final time, demonstrates that ‘adrenaline junkie’ Schumacher was unable to ease off the throttle.

Germany’s Bild newspaper quoted an eyewitness as saying Schumacher’s helmet was “cleaved in two” by the obviously high-speed impact.

“All your F1 career you are at the limit,” Mika Salo, who subbed for an injured Schumacher at Ferrari in 1999, told the Finnish broadcaster MTV3.

“When you are used to living like that, then even in your hobbies you can hurt yourself, especially when you do them at an extreme level like Michael.”

Alain Prost added: “Every day after F1, you try to fill the void but nothing gives you as much adrenaline,” the quadruple world champion told Itele.

But others have defended the almost 45-year-old.

“He (Schumacher) explained to me that often it looked to outsiders that he is addicted to risk and speed,” said RTL presenter Kai Ebel, perhaps the last to interview Schumacher at length earlier this month.

“But he knew very well his ability and told me with a very great emphasis that he is never out of control with the speed,” he told Bild newspaper.

Flavio Briatore, one of Schumacher’s first bosses in F1, agrees.

“I was with him in a car — from the hotel or airport, or to the circuit — hundreds of times,” the Italian told La Gazzetta dello Sport, “and — believe me — I never saw him ‘do a Schumacher.’

“In traffic, Michael was very cautious, tolerant of those in his way. Now, he was skiing with his son and I cannot imagine he was going at breakneck speed.

“It was the saddest New Year’s of my life,” Briatore, holidaying at his resort in Kenya, admitted.

Former F1 driver Jarno Trulli also insisted Schumacher is not “reckless.”

“He had just gone skiing with his child, as many fathers do,” he told Il Giornale. “Throughout his career, he was always very safety-conscious.

“Actually, it is thanks to Michael that during his years of activity in Formula One, many improvements were made in the field of safety,” added Trulli.

“It’s true that a driver is used to living with risk, but it’s a calculated risk and certainly less dangerous than many kids out drinking on a Saturday night.

“We do our work and at Christmas we go on vacation,” said Trulli. “Just like Michael, I too am now going to the mountains to ski.”

bigbadbrother
01-04-2014, 04:07 AM
Michael Schumacher could remain in his coma for weeks, or even months.

That is the expert view of Professor Uwe Kehler, the highly respected head of neurosurgery at the Asklepios hospital in Hamburg.

As is much of the world at present, he is watching with keen interest the progress in Grenoble of injured seven-time world champion Schumacher, who is in a critical condition after a skiing crash last Sunday.

Friday, Schumacher’s 45th birthday, is the sixth day since the accident, but Kehler told Bild newspaper that the great German’s family, friends and fans face a longer wait.

“Generally, it takes two to three weeks until a patient with such a severe trauma can be woken up,” he said.

“But it can take days or even weeks until the patient opens his eyes. Unfortunately, it is also possible that the person does not wake up properly.”

Professor Kehler said it is a good sign that Schumacher, although critical, has entered a period of stability.

“In a severe craniocerebral trauma, the first hours and days are crucial to see if the pressure and swelling continues to increase. Especially critical are the first three to four days.

“When patients get through those first few days, everyone can breathe a little. But no statement can be made yet about the patient’s survival or the outcome.

“If the patient continues to remain stable, you can shut down the measures to reduce intracranial pressure and then dissolve the coma,” he explained.

A Paris neurosurgeon, Philippe Decq, told France’s RMC Sport that Schumacher will then reach a crucial point in his recovery.

“After a severe traumatic brain injury, if three weeks passes and there are no signs of awakening, then from a prognostic point of view it is very bad,” he said.

Schumacher’s manager Sabine Kehm implied by text message on Thursday that the former Ferrari and Mercedes driver remains in a stable yet critical condition.

“We will not make statements unless there is something new (to report),” she said.

A statement issued by Schumacher’s family reads: “We all know he is a fighter and will not give up.”

bigbadbrother
01-07-2014, 07:00 PM
Nine days into his coma, positive news is finally emerging from the Michael Schumacher camp. <br />
<br />
Multiple authoritative media sources, including major German news agencies and television broadcasters,...

bigbadbrother
01-17-2014, 06:31 PM
More than two weeks after Michael Schumacher was placed into a medically induced coma, multiple German papers reported Thursday that doctors fear the racing champion “could be in a coma forever.”

Schumacher injured himself in a Dec. 29 skiing accident in the French Alps. He was taken to Grenoble University Hospital in France, where he was placed into the coma.

In the days since, the seven-time Formula One champion has undergone two brain surgeries and, despite some reports of small progress, doctors have been steadfast in their insistence that the status of his brain injuries remains critical. His 45th birthday was on Jan. 3, when fans held a vigil outside the hospital in tribute.

According to Huffington Post UK on Thursday, the German magazine Focus spoke with experts on Schumacher’s condition and reported that Schumacher “could be in a coma forever.” In addition, The Daily Mail reported doctors in France told the German newspaper Bild that Schumacher’s condition is so grave there are currently no plans to wake him.

It is that fact that presents the biggest risk, even if Schumacher does awaken, The Times (UK) reported. “If Schumacher survives, he will not be Schumacher,” Dr. Richard Greenwood, an acute brain injury specialist from University College London Hospital, told the paper. “He will be [a regular Joe] Bloggs. His rehabilitation will only be effective if he comes to terms with being Bloggs — and fulfills what Bloggs can do.”

The biggest concern for doctors when it comes to patients in forced comas is that oxygen to the brain is reduced in a coma, and the longer the patient remains in a comatose state, the more likely long-term effects such as brain and organ damage are sustained.

The Daily Mail quoted German professor and neurological expert Gereon Fink as saying, “If the injuries are so severe that it would harm the patient, he is kept longer in the medically induced coma. Depending on where bleeding has taken place can lead to unilateral paralysis, speech disorders or personality changes.”

bigbadbrother
01-30-2014, 07:57 PM
Sabine Kehm, the press officer for Michael Schumacher, has confirmed that doctors are now slowly bringing the seven-time Formula One World Champion out of his medically induced coma.

Schumacher has been in a Grenoble, France hospital since sustaining a major head injury in a skiing accident on Dec. 29 in the French ski resort of Meribel. He has had two operations, the most recent involving the removal of a prominent hematoma.

Today’s statement reads:

“The family of Michael Schumacher is again requesting to respect its privacy and the medical secret, and to not disturb the doctors treating Michael in their work. At the same time, the family wishes to express sincere appreciation for the world-wide sympathy.

“Michael’s sedation is being reduced in order to allow the start of the waking-up process, which may take a long time. For the protection of the family, it was originally agreed by the interested parties to communicate this information only once this process was consolidated. Please note that no further updates will be given.”

It marks the first official medical update on Schumacher since he was confirmed to be in a “stable” condition earlier this month.

Schumacher remains in the thoughts of Formula One fans around the world, and the teams currently testing in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain have also shown their support for the stricken champion – including the teams he drove for, Ferrari and Mercedes.

bigbadbrother
03-12-2014, 11:17 PM
Michael Schumacher is showing "small, encouraging signs" that he may awake from his coma, his agent said Wednesday, more than two months after a ski crash left the Formula One champion with severe head injuries.

Updates since Schumacher's accident have offered few details and limited optimism for the man who once drove the world's fastest cars and motorcycles but was critically injured on a familiar ski slope during a family outing. Wednesday's statement was little different, describing "an extremely intimate and fragile situation" for his family.

"It is very hard to comprehend for all of us that Michael, who had overcome a lot of precarious situations in the past, has been hurt so terribly in such a banal situation," Sabine Kehm, a family representative, wrote in a statement. "We are and remain confident that Michael will pull through and will wake up. There sometimes are small, encouraging signs, but we also know that this is the time to be very patient."

Small signs that physicians are watching for could include fluttering eyelids, or efforts to breathe without a ventilator.

"This doesn't change one's opinion of Schumacher's situation in general. It's still very difficult to predict what his long-term recovery will be like and if he does wake up and comes off the ventilator," said Dr. Tipu Aziz, professor of neurosurgery at Oxford University.

"In all likelihood he will be severely disabled," said Aziz, who has not been involved in treating Schumacher.

Schumacher, known affectionately as Schumi, was hospitalized with severe head injuries after the Dec. 29 ski accident, which split his helmet as he crashed into rocks on the slope at the Meribel ski station in the French Alps.

Doctors put him into a coma to rest his brain and decrease swelling, and they operated to remove blood clots, but some were too deeply embedded.

Neurologists not involved in his treatment say full recovery appears increasingly unlikely, given the coma's duration and the extent of his injuries.

"Every brain injury is different and no two routes to recovery will be the same," said Luke Griggs, a spokesman for Headway, a British brain injury charity. "It is fair to suggest that any patient waking from a three month-long coma will face the prospect of a long and challenging road to recovery, with the eventual outcome uncertain."

bigbadbrother
03-21-2014, 10:20 PM
An expert has admitted he is alarmed by reports Michael Schumacher has lost a quarter of his body weight while laying comatose in France.

Although the great German’s family manager Sabine Kehm and close friend Jean Todt insist they have not given up on the hope of full recovery, almost 12 weeks have now passed since the former Ferrari and Mercedes driver’s skiing fall.Early last week, reports came through that the 45-year-old, who weighed about 75 kilograms (165 pounds) when he crashed on the Meribel slopes, has apparently lost 20 kilograms (44 pounds) in hospital.

Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport and the major German daily Bild-Zeitung are now also reporting that Schumacher now weighs just 55 kilos (121 pounds), which means he has lost more than a quarter of his former body weight.

“While a weight loss in coma patients is normal, 20 kilos is a lot for people with normal body weights,” said Prof. Dr. Curt Diehm, of the Karlsbad teaching hospital in Germany.

“One must assume that his muscles have degraded greatly due to the immobility,” he surmised.

bigbadbrother
03-26-2014, 10:21 PM
Former F1 doctor Gary Hartstein thinks it is unlikely Michael Schumacher will recover after more than 12 weeks in a coma and counting.

The German legend has been in his hospital bed in Grenoble since the end of December, following a skiing fall in the French alps.

“As time goes on, it becomes less and less likely that Michael will emerge to any significant extent,” American Hartstein, whose contract was not renewed by F1′s governing body after the 2012 season, wrote in his latest blog entry.

And he thinks “really bad news” about Schumacher’s prospects might be issued soon, due to a “terribly dismal prognosis”.

“I think it is inevitable that should the status quo continue, the ICU staff may well, at some point in the not-distant future, decide that the patient they’ve just been asked to admit has a higher need for that bed than Michael, given his clinical situation and prognosis,” said Hartstein.

Hartstein, who succeeded F1′s retiring Sid Watkins in 2005, has been critical of the Schumacher family’s public silence throughout his hospitalization.

But he thinks that silence might soon have an unexpected benefit.

“I’ve realised that perhaps the lack of status updates has given us all a chance to move on a bit, to process what’s happening, and to start to detach,” said Hartstein.

bigbadbrother
04-01-2014, 01:10 AM
Corinna Schumacher, the wife of seven-time Formula 1 World Champion Michael Schumacher, is reportedly building a £10 million ($16.6 million) medical suite at the couple’s home.

Schumacher has been in an artificially induced coma since his skiing accident three months ago. With experts saying it is unlikely he will ever wake up, an Intensive Care Unit is now being built at the couples’ home by Lake Geneva, Switzerland.

Every day since his accident, Schumacher’s family has performed a 150 mile round-trip to be by his side. The Daily Mail reports that pressure for bed space may soon build at the Grenble University Hospital in France, leading Schumacher’s family to make preparations to bring him home.

“Miracles happen, of course,” says a 25-year friend of the family, “and as a wealthy man he has the best care money can buy.

“But all the money in the world cannot fix what has happened to him. The family are making arrangements for a future of permanent immobility.”

bigbadbrother
04-07-2014, 04:19 PM
Last week, Michael Schumacher’s manager, Sabine Kehm, informed the media that the seven-time Formula 1 World Champion was showing “moments of consciousness and awakening.”

Now, three months after his skiing accident in the Alps, media reports are coming through that Schumacher is responding to voices and making eye contact with others at the French Grenble University Hospital.

Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Schumacher is making encouraging eye movements and Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper says he is responding to voices.

Former Formula 1 driver and close friend of the family, Jean Alesi, has visited Schumacher many times since the 45-year old German’s accident and says that the news is much more encouraging.

“First, Michael responded only to pain, when he was pinched for example,” said Alesi in a report by Speed Week. “But that can also be an unconscious reaction of the body.

“During my last visit I realized that something was beginning to change for the better. I felt with the family some relief, a great joy about how things were developing. It is fabulous, even though the path back to life is still long.”

Former Ferrari teammate and close friend of Schumacher, Felipe Massa, seemed to confirm at Bahrain that Schumacher is responding to voices.

“I cannot really put into words how excited I am about it … I prayed every day for Michael and they were answered. Now I hope to continue to hear good news from Grenoble.”

bigbadbrother
04-29-2014, 10:53 PM
Michael Schumacher’s manager has denied reports she told German television that the F1 legend had finally emerged from his long coma.

Late last week, multiple media sources claimed the former Ferrari and Mercedes driver’s manager, Sabine Kehm, had told the RTL broadcaster that Schumacher had woken up after 17 weeks in a coma and ‘recognised his wife’ Corinna.

“Sorry,” said Nicola Pohl, a respected correspondent for the major German daily Bild, “but those rumors from Spain are apparently not true.

“Kehm just texted me (saying) she hadn’t confirmed anything to RTL,” she added.

Indeed, Kehm has now told the German tabloid Kolner Express that she made no such comments about Schumacher’s continued awakening to RTL or anyone else.

“Since doing the ARD talk show (two weeks ago) … I have not spoken to anyone about Michael Schumacher,” she confirmed.

bigbadbrother
06-15-2014, 08:04 PM
Samuel Reiman <br />
<br />
It has been almost six months since Michael Schumacher’s tragic skiing accident that has put him in a coma from which he has yet to awake. <br />
<br />
Though no news has officially been...

bigbadbrother
06-16-2014, 04:18 PM
Formula 1 great Michael Schumacher is no longer in a coma and has left a French hospital where he had been receiving treatment since a skiing accident in December, his manager said Monday.

Schumacher left the hospital in Grenoble “to continue his long phase of rehabilitation,” manager Sabine Kehm said in a statement.

She did not say when he was released, where the seven-time F1 champion was taken or give any further details of his condition, and her office refused to elaborate on the statement.

Brigitte Polikar, a spokeswoman for the Grenoble hospital, said Schumacher left on Monday morning, accompanied by an unspecified number of people. She would not give any further details.

Schumacher’s family “would like to explicitly thank all his treating doctors, nurses and therapists in Grenoble as well as the first aiders at the place of the accident, who did an excellent job in those first months,” Kehm’s statement said.

“The family also wishes to thank all the people who have sent Michael all the many good wishes. … We are sure it helped him,” it added. “For the future we ask for understanding that his further rehabilitation will take place away from the public eye,” it added.

The 45-year-old German driver was hospitalized with severe head injuries after his Dec. 29 ski accident, which split his helmet as he crashed into rocks on the slope at the Meribel ski resort in the French Alps.

Doctors in Grenoble put him into a coma to rest his brain and decrease swelling, and they operated to remove blood clots, but some were too deeply embedded.

Little information has been released on Schumacher’s condition over recent months. Monday’s statement was the first substantial update since Kehm said in early April that Schumacher “shows moments of consciousness and awakening.”

Schumacher earned universal acclaim for his uncommon and sometimes ruthless driving talent, which led to a record 91 race wins. He retired from F1 racing in 2012 after an unmatched seven world titles.

Schumacher, his wife and their two children live in Switzerland. His accident happened on a family vacation as Schumacher was skiing with his 14-year-old son.