“$10 million to the victims of Tsunami”– Michael Schumacher gave away 1/4th of his yearly earnings after knowing his bodyguard died in Indian Ocean Tsunami

Michael Schumacher gave away an immense amount of money to the tsunami victims that hit several parts of South Asia in 2004.

The former Ferrari legend Michael Schumacher never boasted about his charitable work. But indeed, everyone in F1 knew how generous was the German race driver.

Schumacher similarly pledged around $1o million to the victims of the Tsunami caused by the Indian Ocean back in 2004. Several countries like India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Maldives were affected by the ravaging waves.

His former bodyguard was among the several casualties in the disaster. Schumacher’s manager Willi Weber made the announcement back then.

“The dawning of the New Year has not been as joyful for us this year because of the catastrophe in Asia. We sympathise with the victims in their grief,” Schumacher said back then,

When Michael Schumacher donated $10m to the Tsunami relief fund, around 1/4 of his earnings that year. pic.twitter.com/8dyVRbbcaf

— WhenF1WasDifferent (@WhenF1Was) October 2, 2015

Schumacher was not the only notable sports icon or group that came out for help. Germany’s national team took on an all-star Bundesliga international side on January 25 2005, to raise money for the relief effort.

The charity game happened at the 60,000-capacity Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen, the venue for that year’s Champions League final between Porto and Monaco.

Bayern Munich donated $410,000 immediately to help victims, and the German football authorities — DFB and DFL — donated 1.5 million euros.

Also read: Michael Schumacher took a rookie to skydive during the Canadian Grand Prix

Michael Schumacher still reebered in F1

The seven-time world champion himself met with a previous injury in late 2013 that gave him a brain injury. After multiple efforts, the former Ferrari driver survived, but never to be the same again.

Since then, his family has kept him away from the public eye. For the last nine years, he has had no public appearance, and only limited information has been provided.

Moreover, only a few close friends and relatives have access to Schumacher. Though, for fans, Schumacher’s family released unseen footage and pictures of the F1 legend during his career days.

The whole data was compiled by Netflix and was released in 2021. The documentary was an overwhelming nostalgia for his fans, who still pray for his recovery.

Also read: Michael Schumacher reveals he never got adrenaline rush pushing the car to its limits

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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