Nearly two years after his skiing accident in the French Alps in December 2013, Formula One legend Michael Schumacher is still battling his life’s biggest ordeal.
While information has been scarce about the true state of his medical condition, there were reports early this year saying that Michael is still suffering from paralysis. After getting revived from a coma some six months after his accident, the former F1 racing champion is reportedly showing signs of slow progress.
Apparently, he has opened his eyes but still cannot speak. He can already sit but cannot move much and as such, he sits on a wheelchair most of the day.
However, his family led by his wife Corinna and children Mick and Gina Maria, are always hopeful of a full recovery of their patriarch. They are reportedly praying every day that Michael will continue with his progress and be well again.
Even the close friends and fans of the German racer remain optimistic of his chances of complete recovery despite slow progress, indicating how well-loved Schumacher is as a family man, a friend, and a sportsman.
Always hopeful
One of Michael’s closest friends who is always hopeful and optimistic of the F1 legend’s full recovery is Ross Brawn, the former team principal of Ferrari and Mercedes.
Brawn recently disclosed that he has been at Michael’s home on the shore of Lake Geneva in Switzerland a number of times since the racer got discharged from the rehab facility in September last year to recuperate with a specialist team of nurses and doctors to help his recovery.
After his skiing accident in December 2013, Michael was in a hospital in Grenoble, France for nearly six months. Upon waking up from his coma, he was moved to a rehabilitation clinic in Lausanne, Switzerland where he spent three months. In September last year, he was finally moved to his home, details the Telegraph of UK.
In a recent interview with a UK publication, Brawn said that he regularly keeps in touch with Michael’s family, but he tries to keep a balance of going to see his friend or just call his wife for updates because it is quite painful for him as well as the family seeing the slow progress.
Ross added that Corinna also calls him occasionally and keeps him updated. He said that they just keep praying every day and hope that he’ll recover to a stage where he can be almost normal again. He said that while recovery is slow, there is still always hope, notes Hello Magazine.
Relative progress
Sometime in March this year, Michael’s friend and former racing driver Frenchman Philippe Streiff also confirmed that the seven-time Formula One world champion remains paralyzed and still cannot speak. But he said that Michael is getting better although his progress is relative.
Philippe, who is on a wheelchair himself after suffering from a pre-season training crash in 1989, says that it’s really difficult for Michael because he still cannot speak. He also added that in addition to his speech woes, Michael is also having memory problems.
Formula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone and a good friend of Michael Schumacher says that he had not visited the former Formula One world champion because he does not want to see his friend in his present state.
He said that he does not want to see Michael the way he is now because he wants to remember the person as he was before. He added that if and when Michael comes back, that is also how he wants to see him.
Michael Schumacher is one of the most, if not the most successful F1 drivers in the history of motorsports racing. He is the only driver in Formula One history to finish in the top three in every race of a season and he also holds the world record for the most consecutive podium finishes.