Michael Schumacher reportedly appeared in public for the first time in over a decade at his daughter’s wedding in Spain on Saturday.
Guests were instructed to leave their mobile phones at the door to protect the privacy of Schumacher, whose condition has been kept under wraps by family and close friends since his skiing accident in 2013.
With F1 fans still uncertain about what the seven-time world champion’s life looks like at this stage in his recovery, Express Sport takes you through everything we know about Schumacher’s health…
Michael Schumacher’s health: Everything we know
The German had only been retired for a year when he hit his head on a rock during a family skiing trip in the French Alps in December 2013. He was wearing a helmet but still needed to be rushed to Grenoble Hospital for two life-saving brain operations.
Schumacher spent six months in a coma to aid his recovery and did not return to his family home in Switzerland until nine months after the accident. His wife, Corinna, and medical professionals are believed to provide round-the-clock care for the former Ferrari star, now 55.
The details of that care, and of Schumacher’s condition, have been fiercely protected by the family ever since.
It was reported last year that Schumacher had been driven in a Mercedes AMG sportscar in an effort to stimulate areas of his brain he once used for racing. That aside, the majority of the detail accessible to F1 fans has come in dribs and drabs from those allowed to visit him.
Three-time Grand Prix winner Johnny Herbert claims that Ross Brawn and Gerhard Berger have both been invited to Switzerland by the family, as well as former Ferrari boss Jean Todt, who has spoken several times about Schumacher since the accident.
“Michael is here, so I don’t miss him,” Todt told L’Equipe late last year. “[But he] 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. Unfortunately, fate struck him ten years ago. He is no longer the Michael we knew in Formula One.”
Schumacher’s brother, Ralf, who forged a successful F1 career of his own, supported Todt’s claim that things have changed dramatically since the accident. “Fortunately, advanced medical science provides many opportunities,” he told Bild. “However, nothing is like it used to be.”
Rumours that Schumacher is unable to speak were backed up by his son, Mick, during a Netflix documentary about his father’s life. “I think dad and me, we would understand each other now in a different way now,” said the 25-year-old, who spent two seasons in F1 with Haas.
“Simply because we speak a similar language, the language of motorsport. And that we would have so much more to talk about. That’s where my head is most of the time. Thinking that it would be cool that would be. I would give up everything just for that.”
In the same documentary, Corinna provided her own heartbreaking account of Schumacher’s condition. “He shows me how strong he is every day,” she said.
“I miss Michael every day. But it’s not just me who misses him. It’s the children, the family, his father, everyone around him. Everybody misses Michael, but Michael is here – different, but here.”
