Everything we know about Michael Schumacher after 10 years of silence

A decade has passed since the accident that changed everything for Michael Schumacher and his family. It was on December 29, 2013, just one year after his retirement as an F1 driver, while skiing during the family Christmas vacations, together with his son Mick (who was 14 years old) in the Alpine resort of Meribel (France).

Ten years later, the main news about Schumacher's state of health date back to 2014, when he came out of coma and was transferred to Switzerland; first to a hospital in Lausanne and then to his home in Gland, in September of the same year.

Ten years have passed and a lot of details have faded in time since that December, in the days before and after New Year's Eve, when journalists were waiting for news at the door of the Grenoble Hospital.

The accident

Despite being an excellent skier, "one of the best I've seen as a non-professional," according to Hubertus von Hohenloe, who has skied for Mexico on several occasions, and who shared days on the snow with Michael, the fatality came on a very simple stretch.

After 11:00 AM, Schumacher descended to an intersection between two slopes in the French ski resort of Meribel, one red and one blue. He continued down one of them, at a normal speed, until he left the marked margins, went out of control when he hit the first rock, and then went forward.

That rock which he hit, and which broke his hull, was eight meters from the marked edge and he fell one meter further. It was said at the time that he had been reckless, that he had acted recklessly, but his manager Sabine Kehm clarified that he had done so "to help a skier who had fallen".

Problems in the rescue

Stephane Bozon, the emergency coordinator who rescued Schumacher, recounted the first moments after the fall: "We received the call from the mountain rescuers, who were looking after Michael on the runway.

"They told us that he landed on his head and suffered a serious head injury. I immediately dispatched the helicopter to go to the area. I still remember that the emergency medics in the helicopter had problems on the slopes, because of the complicated area of the accident."

The helicopter initially flew to the small hospital in Moutiers, but Schumacher's condition deteriorated drastically during the journey.

Once he lost consciousness and needed to be intubated, the pilot was told to change course for Grenoble.

Critical condition

Upon arrival at the University Hospital Center of the French city, Schumacher underwent emergency surgery to relieve the intracranial pressure in his brain.

Dr. Jean-François Payen, head of neurosurgery, issued a first medical report: "He is in a critical situation. It can be said that his vital prognosis is in question. His condition is very serious.

"At the moment, we cannot say anything about Michael's fate. It is too early to comment on the possible effects on the patient. We can say that Michael is in a very serious compromised situation. Our objective is to limit the increase in intracranial pressure and to ensure that the oxygenation of his brain is correct."

Second operation

On the evening of December 30, Schumacher underwent a second operation to try to drain some of the large edema that had accumulated in his brain.

Coming out of coma

On June 16, 2014, a family statement sent to the media read, "Michael has left the CHU Grenoble to continue his long rehabilitation phase. He is no longer in a coma!" it reported without further details.

"His family would like to thank all the people who sent their good wishes to Michael. We are sure they helped him. Going forward, we ask that it be understood that his rehabilitation will take place in private," it added.

Over the course of the 170 days he spent in the hospital, news of his recovery went from one extreme to another: from "small positive signs" to "unsuccessful attempts" to bring him out of his coma, to "momentary states of consciousness".

At this point, Michael had awakened.

The possible after-effects

At that point, a string of information began again, speculating about the possible after-effects and the pilot's condition. Had he really woken up?

That was the question on everyone's lips, and it was not easy to answer.

Technically, yes, Michael was experiencing periods of consciousness lasting many hours. Even during his transfer, the nurses who accompanied him in the ambulance spoke of head movements and open eyes.He was aware of what was going on around him and who was with him.

There were no images, as their cell phones were confiscated so that they could not take or record images. He was said to be around 50 kg. in weight, down from 75 kg. before, due to the long period of muscular inactivity.

Neither communicating nor interacting

It was also said that he was kept in a pseudocoma.

It was very complicated to know exactly the real situation, although some doctors were already talking about 'captivity syndrome', a state that occurs in this type of patients who have suffered massive brain damage.

The priority was brain stimulation to restore basic functions, such as speech and movement.

Breathing autonomously

That is the breakthrough that allowed him to leave the ICU in Grenoble and to be transferred. In his room, according to German media, there was a machine ready in case there was a problem and he had to be assisted to breathe urgently. It was reported that he had also not eaten solid food since the accident, as he could not digest it.

Coming home

On September 9, 2014, there was another important statement about Schumacher.

"From now on, Michael's recovery will take place at home.

"Considering the injuries he suffered, there has been progress in recent weeks and months. However, there is still a long and complicated road ahead. We would like to extend our gratitude to the entire Lausanne care team for their competent work. We ask that the privacy of Michael's family continue to be respected and that rumors about his situation be avoided."

At the time, there was also talk that 12 million had been invested in fitting out an area of the Schumacher mansion in Gland and that a team of up to 15 people, including doctors and nurses, were taking care of the driver at all times.

Treatment in Paris

After five years without news about his condition, in September 2019 the news broke that Michael was at the Georges Pompidou European Hospital in Paris, undergoing a secret treatment by stem cell infusion, carried out by the Cardiovascular Surgery department headed by Dr. Philippe Menasche.

Le Parisien reported that the medical center had become "a bunker".

However, they were able to speak to one of the nurses in charge of treating the former German driver. "Yes, he was on my shift," he explained, "and I can assure you that he is conscious," he revealed.

After much speculation about the nature of the treatment and that it could be an experimental therapy, cardiologist Menasche denied this: "I don't perform miracles. With my team, we are not doing any experiments, an abominable term that does not correspond to a serious vision of medicine," he assured.

"There has been a lot of progress in the last 20 years, but the truth is that we still know very little about stem cells," he added in response to questions about Schumacher.