Michael Schumacher Health Update: Friends, Family Hopeful He Will Make Full Recovery
Little is known about F1 racer Michael Schumacher's health condition following his life-threatening ski accident in the French Alps.
Schumacher suffered a "severe head injury" on Dec. 29, 2013 after getting into a ski-related accident, after which he was left in a coma. Three months after the incident, it was reported that he was no longer in a coma and had left Grenoble Hospital.
Very few details about his condition have come out ever since. Speaking to German media (via The Sun), Schumacher's representative, Sabine Kehm, said, "Michael has consistently drawn a clear line between the public and the private, which has always been accepted by the fans and the media."
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She added, "The decision to protect his privacy from the public has been taken in Michael's interest." Kehm assured fans that the seven-time world racing champion's condition was slowly improving.
In September 2016, Schumacher's lawyer gave a more detailed outline of his condition after German magazine Bunte claimed that the racing champion could walk again.
In a statement, Felix Damm said Schumacher "cannot walk" and that he cannot stand even with the assistance of his therapists.
The refuted statement in Bunte's report claimed that an unnamed friend of Schumacher's revealed that although he is very thin, Schumacher can "once again walk a little with the help of his therapists."
"He manages to make a couple of steps. And he can also raise an arm," the unnamed source told Bunte.
Bunte lost the case and was ordered by the court to pay £40,000 to Schumacher's camp for making false claims about the racer's condition.
Ross Brawn, a close friend of Schumacher's, said his friends and family are still hoping the F1 legend will make a full recovery.
Brawn told The Guardian, "We go see him and hope and pray that one day he will make a recovery. I was quoted as saying he's improving and it was not what I really meant."
