“He’s different, but he’s there”: Michael Schumacher, ten years of great mysteries and slim hopes

Ten years ago today, on December 29, 2013, Michael Schumacher's life was turned upside down on a rock hidden by a layer of snow in a small off-piste area of ​​the Méribel resort where he used to ski with his relatives. In a bend approached at moderate speed, the seven-time world champion lost his balance before falling head first on the edge of a rock.

Under the violent shock, his helmet broke in several places. Conscious when first aid arrived, “Schumi” was quickly evacuated, but his condition was considered very serious by doctors, who diagnosed head trauma and cerebral hemorrhage requiring emergency neurosurgical intervention. Placed in an artificial coma, Schumacher was able to leave the Grenoble University Hospital, where he had been treated, in June 2014, before returning to a hospital in Lausanne, then his home in Gland, Switzerland.

Since then, the driver with 91 Grand Prix victories has continued his long rehabilitation phase, surrounded by his wife, Corinna, and his two children, Gina Maria and Mick. The latter followed his father's path. The Schumacher clan is careful to maintain the greatest secrecy about the state of health of the 55-year-old champion (he will have them on January 3) and whose brain functions have been heavily damaged by brain lesions.

An inflexible course of action despite the proliferation of unfounded rumors about his ability to interact with those around him or concerning his physical state, but also fake news. A peak of indignity was reached in April 2023 when German tabloid Die Aktuelle claimed to have secured an interview with the track star. The interview was actually generated by artificial intelligence.

In September 2021, Corinna Schumacher broke her silence in a Netflix documentary dedicated to her husband. A few sentences dropped between great concern and slight hope of improvement. “Everyone misses Michael. But Michael is there. It's different, but it's there. He shows me how strong he is every day…, she confided, adding: He is undergoing treatment. We do everything to improve his condition, ensure that he is comfortable and to make him feel our family, our connection. Whatever happens, I will do everything I can. We all will. As a family, we try to continue as Michael would have liked it and as he would still like it. Life goes on." Jean Todt, considered by Corinna Schumacher in an interview with Le Figaro in 2021 as a “member of the family”, is one of the rare people authorized to go to the bedside of the German, whom he managed at Ferrari between 1996 and 2006 and of whom he is a close friend.

“He’s not the Michael from before. He is different and is beautifully mentored by his wife and children, who protect him. His life is different and I have the privilege of being able to share moments with him. That's all there is to say. Unfortunately, fate struck him ten years ago and he is no longer the Michael we knew in F1,” he told L’Équipe on December 13, also clinging to the hope of a miracle, as Ralf Schumacher speaking this week in Bild.

“Michael has been very lucky throughout his life. But there was this tragic accident. Fortunately, medical and scientific advances offer many opportunities. Thank God, modern means have made it possible to do many things, but, despite this, nothing is the same as before. Life is sometimes unfair. This day was marked by a lot of bad luck. This twist of fate changed our family,” confided the younger brother, adding, dejected but not yet completely resigned: “I miss my Michael from before.” To him and to his entire family as well as to the tens of millions of admirers saddened by the tragic fate of the circuit legend.