It is almost a decade since F1’s beloved Michael Schumacher had his horrific skiing accident. As the seven-time champion is still unconscious and away from the limelight, German author and journalist Jens Gideon has been probing into his accident from 2013. He has released his findings on the German broadcaster ARD.
Gideon highlighted two grave errors that have led to Schumacher’s current condition. According to the Sun, the first of them was the lack of snow on the ground, which made it dangerous to ski.
The second was the first responders’ misjudgment of the severity of the Ferrari champion’s condition. Schumacher‘s local ski instructor Andre was one of the first to come on the scene after the F1 veteran fell.
About the lack of snow, Andre cited, “You don’t go in there on a day like that. It was clear that there wasn’t enough snow.” Andre also highlighted that the first responders misinterpreted Schumacher’s condition to be better than it was because he was conscious.
Therefore, they decided to take him to a nearby town, Moutiers, via helicopter. However, Andre highlighted that Schumacher lost consciousness midway, and when they landed, they decided to reroute to a specialized hospital in Grenoble.
Andre elaborated that had this been decided earlier, Schumacher could have got treatment earlier and things could have been different. Eventually, the former German driver was put into a medically induced coma that lasted 250 days. He also underwent two operations to remove the blood clots.
Ever since then, it has been ten years that Schumacher has been out of the public eye. His family and close ones, including former boss Jean Todt, have remained tight-lipped to maintain privacy on his condition. Todt even said, “His life is different now.”
How and why do close ones keep things private about Michael Schumacher?
In the entirety of the past decade, there has been little information available about Michael Schumacher and his current health condition. The reasoning is obvious that, barring a rare positive development, the Schumacher family won’t want any limelight to disturb the F1 legend’s health.
Former Ferrari boss Jean Todt, who has been a close friend of the seven-time champion, often references his old driver in interviews. However, Todt laments and reminisces about the good memories rather than divulging anything current about the former German driver.
Todt recently commented in an interview with L’Equipe, “Michael is here, so I don’t miss him, is simply not the Michael he used to be. He is different and is wonderfully guided by his wife and children who protect him. His life is different now and I have the privilege of sharing moments with him. That’s all there is to say.”
It is natural for Todt to feel the difference in how Schumacher is currently, given his emotional connection with him. The former FIA president even stated, “He is no longer the Michael we knew in Formula 1.”
