It’s been more than a decade since Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher suffered a life-threatening injury while skiing in the French ski resort of Meribel. Schumacher, a seven time former world champion, suffered severe brain injuries during the accident. The 54-year-old has been residing privately in Switzerland, and details about his health have been kept confidential. He has not made any public appearance since the accident and there remains speculations about his health. Former world champions Sebastian Vettel, who close to Schumacher and his family, recently revealed that the F1 legend “is not doing well”.
Schumacher’s lawyer, Felix Damm, however, has revealed that the former F1 driver’s family has decided not to make his final health report public due to privacy concerns.
“It was always about protecting private things. We considered whether a final report about Michael’s health could be the right way to do this,: Damm told German media outlet LTO, as quoted by SI.com.
Damm also stated that Schumacher’s family would have come under pressure from the media to release timely health updates, had they released the final health report.
“But that wouldn’t have been the end of it and there would have had to be constantly updated ‘water level reports’ and it would not have been up to the family when the media interest in the story stopped.”
“They [the media] could pick up on such a report again and again and as ‘and what does it look like now?’ one, two, three months or years after the message,” he added. “If we then wanted to take action against this reporting, we would have to deal with the argument of voluntary self-disclosure,” he added.
According to report in German outlet BILD, Schumacher has been driven in a Mercedes AMG car to stimulate the brain with familiar sounds. This was done, according to the report, because the racing great spent over two decades in Formula One or in other classes.
The report adds that Michael Schumacher receives 24-hour care, with a private infirmary situated in his former office. 15 doctors and their assistants ensure his well-being.
Schumacher won seven F1 world titles, including five on a trot with Ferrari. He returned to the F1 racing in 2010 for three years with the Mercedes team. He was replaced by Lewis Hamilton in 2013. In 2021, Hamilton matched Schumacher’s record of seven world titles.
(With AFP Inputs)
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