Family upbeat as Schumacher quietly turns 50
BERLIN:AGAINST the backdrop of celebrations marking Michael Schumacher’s 50th birthday on Thursday, the medical condition of Formula One’s most successful driver remains just as fiercely guarded by his close family.
More than five years after a near-fatal brain injury in a skiing accident, the seventime F1 champion continues to be cared for in total secrecy at home in the quiet Swiss town of Gland on the shores of Lake Geneva. He has been there since being transferred from a hospital in September 2014. “You can be sure that he is in the very best of hands and that we are doing everything humanly possible to help him,” Schumacher’s family said in a rare statement on Wednesday. “Please understand we are following Michael’s wishes and keeping such a sensitive subject as health, as it has always been, in privacy.”
It was while skiing with his teenage son Mick in the French Alps at Meribel that Schumacher fell on December 29, 2013. He hit the right side of his head on a rock, splitting open his helmet. Doctors at Grenoble hospital removed blood clots, but others were left untouched because too deeply embedded in his brain.
With unsourced stories abounding, updates on his condition went from scarce to non-existent as his family closed ranks around him . But the family understands the level of devotion toward Schumacher from his legions of fans. Coinciding with his birthday, the family is releasing the Official Michael Schumacher App offering a virtual museum tour of his greatest achievements.
“The app is another milestone in our effort to do justice to him and you, his fans, by celebrating his accomplishments,” the statement said.
Many of those accomplishments were with Ferrari, where the German driving ace won five titles. The Italian team is honouring his 50th with a special museum exhibition of his achievements.