Formula One driving legend Schumacher still in a coma
Doctors offered a grim assessment of Michael Schumacher’s head injuries yesterday, providing no prognosis for the Formula One driving great after his skiing accident in the French Alps.
Schumacher has been placed in a medically induced coma to relieve pressure on his brain, which suffered bruising and bleeding when the retired seven- time world champion fell and struck a rock while skiing during a family vacation.
‘‘ We cannot predict the future for Michael Schumacher,’’ JeanFrancois Payen, the doctor in charge of Grenoble University Hospital’s intensive care unit, said.
‘‘ He is in a critical state in terms of cerebral resuscitation,’’ said Payen, the chief anesthesiologist treating the 44- year- old German driver. ‘‘ We are working hour by hour.’’ Schumacher’s wife, Corinna, daughter Gina Maria and son Mick were at his bedside.
Schumacher earned universal admiration for his uncommon driving talent, which led to a record 91 race wins. His single- minded dedication to victory sometimes meant he was denied the same affection during his career that he received yesterday.
Schumacher and his 14- year- old son were skiing on Sunday in the French Alpine resort of Meribel, where the family has a chalet. He fell and hit the right side of his head on a rock.
By wearing a helmet, Schumacher had given himself a chance of survival, Payen said, though the protection was not enough to prevent serious injury.
Gerard Saillant, a trauma surgeon who operated on Schumacher when he broke his leg in a 1999 race crash, was at the hospital as a visitor.
He said Schumacher’s age and fit- In the old days when safety was virtually non- existent, those who made it through to retirement were the lucky ones. Even then, fate could be especially cruel.
Britain’s Mike Hawthorn walked away from the sport in October 1958 as his country’s first world champion. He died months later when he crashed his Jaguar sportscar into a tree.
Compatriot Mike Hailwood, a champion on two wheels and podium contender in F1 in the 1960s and early 1970s, died in a 1981 car collision after popping out to buy a fish’n’chip supper.
French ex- Ferrari driver Didier Pironi was killed in 1987 while racing a powerboat. Even some of those still racing find they need an extra adrenaline fix. As the sport has become safer, with Formula One’s last driver fatality the death of Brazilian Ayrton Senna in 1994, the dangers elsewhere have become more apparent.
Poland’s Robert Kubica almost died, and certainly ended a Formula One career that could have led him to Ferrari, when he crashed in a minor rally in Italy in 2011.
Ferrari’s 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen, who has also raced powerboats and rally cars, hurt his wrist in 2011 in a snowmobile incident.
A cap with a hand- written message in Dutch reading ‘‘ get well soon No 1’’ hangs outside the Michael Schumacher Cart Centre in Kerpen, Germany. ness should work in his favour.
Schumacher, who turns 45 on Friday, retired from the track for the second time only last year, after three- season comeback. Still, the hospital’s neurology team, which is recognised as among the best in France, was cautious about Schumacher’s prospects.
An expert skier, Schumacher fell in a section of trails that slice down through a vast and, in parts, very steep snowfield.
Meribel resort officials said Schumacher was conscious when first respondents arrived, although agitated and in shock.
After the fall, Payen said yesterday, Schumacher was not in a ‘‘ normal state of consciousness’’. He did not respond to questions, and his limbs appeared to move involuntarily, the doctor said.
The French prosecutor in Albertville has opened an investigation into the accident, according to the Mountain Gendarmerie in BourgSaint- Maurice.
The goal is to cumstances and dent.
a determine the circause of the acci-