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#Schumacher's accident

2023-01-07 00:00

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#Schumacher's accident, Fulvio Conti,

#Schumacher's accident

On the morning of Sunday, December 29, 2013, during a descent while skiing off-piste on the snow of Méribel, in Savoie (France), Schumacher falls and

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On the morning of Sunday, December 29, 2013, during a descent while skiing off-piste on the snow of Méribel, in Savoie (France), Schumacher falls and hits his head against a rock, an impact aggravated by the fact that the driver is wearing a sports camera, whose support stick pierces the helmet and skull. Urgently admitted in a semi-comatose state to the Moutiers hospital, Michael Schumacher is then transferred to the better-equipped Grenoble, the university hospital centre, where he undergoes neurosurgery for severe head trauma and brain haemorrhage, then kept in a pharmacological coma.

 

"He is in critical condition and his prognosis is reserved".

 

This is what is said overnight in an official statement from the Grenoble hospital where, since the afternoon, the German driver has been hospitalized in very serious condition.

 

"He has suffered a severe head trauma. He arrived here already in a coma and it was necessary to operate him immediately to reduce the bleeding".

 

Michael Schumacher was on vacation in the French Alps, in Méribel, with his 14-year-old son Mick. They had been skiing together for several hours when, between 11:00 a.m. and 11:15 a.m., they decided to ski down an off-piste trail, an element that will end up in the notebooks of the French police officers who opened an investigation into the case. Precisely, the two were on the Dent de Burgin, between the Biche (red) and Mauduit (blue) slopes, at an altitude of 2.783 meters. During the descent, for no apparent reason, Schumacher lost control of his skis, faltered and fell, hitting his head against a rock. A very violent impact. His son Mick immediately raised the alarm with his mobile phone. Within a few minutes the rescue team arrived at the scene. The driver was on the ground but had not lost consciousness, on the contrary he was alert. The entire rescue procedure was particularly quick, by 11:53 a.m. Schumacher was already undergoing an initial examination at the hospital in Moutiers where he had been taken by helicopter. According to the results of that examination the patient was not considered to be in life-threatening danger, however he had suffered a major head injury, and it was therefore recommended to urgently transfer him to the better-equipped Grenoble hospital, where Schumacher arrived already unconscious. Despite official communications, it was immediately clear that the situation was very serious. So much that Gerard Saillant, world-renowned surgeon, trusted advisor of Jean Todt and of the French Ministry of Sport as well as founder of the Paris Brain Institute, had travelled from Paris. Around lunchtime, Schumacher's condition began to deteriorate dramatically so he underwent an urgent MRI scan of his head. A crucial examination, the result of which did not leave much room for optimism. The head trauma was much more significant than suspected. And there was also a concerning cerebral haemorrhage. The German champion thus underwent surgery, to try to reduce intracranial pressure and avoid the risk of further damage. Meanwhile, outside the hospital, a small crowd of fans had gathered, mixed with some former colleagues. One of them, Olivier Panis, even tried to enter the hospital to get first-hand information, but was stopped by the medical staff, at the entrance. More or less the same was happening on the web, where many drivers and former drivers wanted to share their thoughts and wishes for Schumi. Among them the most moving was the one of the now former Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, almost a younger brother of the German champion:

 

"I am praying to God to protect you, brother".

 

Around mid-afternoon, under pressure from the media of the whole world, some of which were already speaking of a Schumacher on the brink of death, the Grenoble hospital announced a press conference to explain in detail the conditions of the famous patient. 

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But the results of the MRI and the opinion of Professor Saillant advised against such direct declarations by the clinic, redirecting anyone asking for information to Schumacher's staff, who however given that the situation was getting worse preferred to remain silent, simply forwarding the few succinct words of the hospital's statement to the agencies. Having retired for the first time in 2007 Schumacher had already risked his life once. On February 11, 2009, he crashed on a motorbike at the Cartagena circuit, near Murcia, in south-eastern Spain, while testing a Superbike. Schumacher suffered micro-fractures in the head and nape areas, which had serious consequences, preventing him from returning to drive for Ferrari, as he had hoped, to replace Massa until the end of the championship. Having returned to the sport in 2011, yielding the pressure from Mercedes who dreamed of his grand return to F1, Schumacher retired at the end of the 2012 season without achieving great results. Restless by nature, addicted to adrenaline and competitiveness, after the second farewell to the activity he announced his intention to focus more on Corinna, Gina Maria and Mick: his wife and his two children who are now in front of the intensive care unit of the Grenoble hospital, holding their breath.

 

"Michael Schumacher’s situation is very serious. His case remains critical, there are widespread brain lesions, at the moment he is in the intensive care unit and we cannot comment on his future. We have reduced the cerebral oedema, he is in an artificial coma to limit the growth of intracranial pressure".

 

The doctors of the Grenoble hospital say, issuing a new medical bulletin on Michael Schumacher's condition. It is also specified that, contrary to what had been leaked, Schumacher has undergone surgery only one time, that the operation, carried on immediately after his arrival went well and that no further operations are planned at the moment. A lot will depend on Schumacher's reaction in the following hours (it is necessary to wait for the second night) because at the moment brain damage cannot be ruled out either, even though the rescue was prompt. In the fall the driver suffered severe head trauma.

 

"When he arrived at the hospital he was confused and did not answer to the questions. The impact with the rock occurred on the right side of the head. The violence of the impact was such that without a helmet he would not have arrived alive".

 

In Schumacher’s favour, according to doctors, play his age, overall physical fitness and the absence of other problems. However, talking about the future, they say:

 

"Predictions cannot be made, but all people who have had a trauma like this do not come back exactly as they were before".

 

Schumacher’s family thanks the medical staff who are doing everything they can to help the former German driver and the people from all around the world who have expressed their solidarity and sent wishes for a speedy recovery. This was reported by the spokeswoman, Sabine Kehm. In the statement, the champion's family members ask the press to respect their privacy and that of their friends. Meanwhile the public prosecutor’s office of Albertville is opening an investigation to ascertain how the incident happened. Once the incident occurred his wife Corinna and their two children Gina Maria and Mick immediately went to the bedside of the German driver. Initially the information coming from the hospital seemed reassuring and Schumacher's condition did not seem too serious, but in reality the man was in a state of confusion and was not responding to questions when he arrived at the hospital. In addition to the family members also Jean Todt, president of the FIA and Ross Brawn, director of the Mercedes team, arrive at the Grenoble hospital during the night. Drivers and personalities from the world of Formula 1 continue to express solidarity and send messages with get well wishes.

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"A new test has been made and that allowed to perform another surgery, which took place yesterday (Monday, December 30, 2013) around 10:00 p.m. and lasted two hours. The situation is stable and is better than on Monday morning".

 

In the Tuesday morning press conference the general director of the Grenoble hospital explains that Schumacher has shown very small improvements.

 

"It’s all under control. We have gained a little more time. The next hours will be crucial in our therapeutic strategy".

 

The doctors say they are surprised by the signs of improvement shown by Schumacher, signals that have led to the decision to carry out a new operation to reduce the oedema. Jean-Francois Payen, the chief anaesthetist at the Grenoble hospital, declares:

 

"We cannot say that he is out of danger, we cannot say that we made it. There are ups and downs, but the situation has slightly improved compared to yesterday".

 

The chief neurosurgeon also technically explains the decision to operate again:

 

"We talked about it with the family, because the decision of the surgery was a difficult one. The hematoma was right next to the brain but all parameters allowed us to drain it and to reduce the cranial pressure. So the intracranial pressure has improved. But there are other lesions in the brain and we keep them under control. Therefore the patient must continue to be in intensive care. Therapeutic coma can last as long as necessary for treatment, the patient has been induced into hypothermia and is sedated".

 

So caution remains very high, as the doctors clearly explain:

 

"The patient remains in a highly critical condition. It is premature to say what will happen, making predictions is impossible. It would be foolish to talk about it. We can only say what has happened in the last twenty-four hours, we cannot talk about the future".

 

On the possibility of a relocation to Germany:

 

"The patient remains fragile, for now he stays here, where he has the best possible care. Then collegially it will be decided whether a transfer to Germany is possible".

 

Michael Schumacher's helmet broke into two parts when he suffered the violent impact with the rock while skiing off-piste in Meribel, in the French Alps. This was said by hospital sources confirming the news anticipated by the German newspaper Bild.

 

"When the rescuers arrived, they saw the cracked helmet and a lot of blood".

 

At the moment of the terrible impact with the rock, Schumacher was skiing in a stretch of fresh snow between two groomed slopes at a speed between 60 and 100 km/h. A speed that would explain the violence of the impact. This was reported by the British newspaper Times, which quotes a source close to the investigations of the French police that is reconstructing the incident. Contrary to the Times’ thesis is the statement by Michael Schumacher's manager, Sabine Kehm, who confirms the breaking of the helmet but underlines:

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"While making a turn he hit a first rock that he evidently did not see and was catapulted down against another rock. It was a chain of negative circumstances and he really was very unlucky. However, it is not true that Michael was skiing at a high speed".

 

A large number of journalists, cameras and many fans are camped in front of the Grenoble hospital. Access to the facility has been limited, but there is no shortage of cases bordering on the grotesque. A man, possibly a journalist, dressed as a priest tried to enter Schumacher’s room. According to the German newspaper Die Welt, the man was immediately intercepted and escorted out of the room. Schumacher's manager, Sabine Kehm, comments in shock:

 

"I would never have imagined that something like this could happen".

 

A new surgery during the night and a small, very slight improvement: but it already seems like something huge, inside the brain and inside the fate of Michael Schumacher, who on Sunday was on the brink of death, after the skiing accident, and on Monday seemed really close to the end. The doctors at the Grenoble hospital, during the press conference held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, December 31, 2013, explained that on Monday evening Schumacher's condition showed a slight and unexpected improvement, which made it possible to perform a second operation after the one on Sunday morning. Professor Jean Francois Payen, head of anaesthesia and resuscitation, says:

 

"We performed a magnetic resonance imaging scan, and then proposed to Mr. Schumacher's family a second operation to remove a large haematoma on the left side of the brain. It was precisely thanks to the positive, and in some ways surprising, evolution of his general conditions that we had the chance to intervene with less risk. Since the family gave their consent, the haematoma was successfully removed during the night, and this morning a second MRI scan showed clearly positive signals. Although, it has to be repeated, the situation remains very critical and it cannot be absolutely said that the patient is out of danger".

 

Part of the skull cap has been removed, and a device has been inserted to decrease intracranial pressure. The rapid convening of the press conference had hinted at not good signs, but the situation is slowly changing. This is also confirmed by Professor Gerard Saillant, the luminary who came from Paris to assist Schumi's wife and to stay close to his injured old friend:

 

"Our concern remains, however we are a little more optimistic. In intensive care things change for better or worse and from hour to hour, but at least now they are more stable. Together with Michael's family and the medical team, we have decided not to speculate on the future, nor on the weight of any permanent injuries, and certainly not on how Michael will come out of this situation. We only talk about objective data and what happens from moment to moment".

 

The battle, therefore, is far from over, but it is being fought with more weapons. Professor Payen admits:

 

"The physical strength and response of the patient surprised us. The next few hours remain decisive, in a stable but considerably fragile situation. The patient is more under control than yesterday, we could not have expected a new surgical possibility and the general picture is better, but overall not too much changed: Schumacher is still in an artificial coma and hypothermia, and will remain like that for as long as we deem necessary. Our therapeutic strategy now aims to correct other anomalies, which are not few. There are no plans to transfer the patient to another facility: it would be too dangerous and there is no reason to do so".

 

To avoid giving too much space to illusions, and to reiterate the extremely serious situation, Professor Emmanuel Gay (head of neurology) then explains that there still is a widespread haemorrhage persists in Michael Schumacher's brain:

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"And there are other haematomas, although not as large as the one we removed during the night. In some areas of the brain however surgical intervention cannot be made, because it is too dangerous. We do not have medical bulletins or new press conferences planned until there are developments worthy of communication, news that we all hope will be positive. But let it be clear that it would be foolish and dishonest to make predictions about the future".

 

Because this is still a long and winding race. The end is not in sight, but for now the end has been avoided. In the meantime the manager of the German driver is fighting another battle, to deny press reconstructions that talk about Schumacher skiing off-piste, at 60-100 km/h:

 

"What caused the accident a chain of negative circumstances. It is not true that he was skiing at high speed. Michael was skiing in fresh snow between two slopes, a red one and a blue one. He had just helped a friend get up after a fall. In a turn he hit a stone under the ski which threw him forward making him end up against a rock".

 

Every hour is a victory for Michael Schumacher's conditions and future, not yet out of danger but in a slightly less dramatic situation than on Monday: this is only in relation to his survival, because any permanent brain damage is a chapter still to be dealt with. It can only be assessed when the driver is awakened from the artificial coma and taken out of hypothermia.

 

"Michael spent another stable day and a quiet night, that is the good news".

 

His manager and spokeswoman, Sabine Kehm, says on Wednesday, January 1, 2014, to a huge crowd of cameras, microphones and notebooks, while the doctors have not made statements.

 

"They will not do so again, in the absence of significant developments".

 

Kehm reiterates, continuing to say:

 

"It is not true that Michael was going fast, as someone has insinuated, on the contrary he had stopped to help a friend. His accident was the result of a chain of fatal circumstances".

 

The first emergency therefore seems to have been overcome, despite the general criticality and fragility, and there is already speculation about transferring Schumacher to a German hospital. At the moment, however, it would be a huge risk. The physical reaction of the champion has surprised the doctors themselves, including the Parisian luminary Gerard Saillant, Schumacher‘s personal friend, at his bedside:

 

"His resilience could help him a lot, although it would be foolish and dishonest to speculate about the future now".

 

The situation slightly improved on Tuesday, when Schumacher underwent a second brain surgery to remove a large haematoma on the left side: a portion of the skullcap was removed and a device inserted to reduce intracranial pressure.

 

"Michael is never alone, there is always a family member next to him in intensive care".

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Fourth consecutive night in hospital in Grenoble for Michael Schumacher: according to medical sources, the conditions of the German driver remain stable, although critical. Schumacher is kept in a pharmacological coma: his body temperature has been artificially lowered to around 35 °C, to help reduce the cerebral oedema he suffered from. His wife Corinna and children Gina Maria, 16 years old, and Mick, 14, who was with him at the time of the accident, along with Schumacher's spokeswoman, Sabine Kehm, remain constantly by his side.

 

"Michael will not give up".

 

Meanwhile, the family of the former driver publishes a message on his official website:

 

"We all know that Michael is a fighter and he won't give up. After Michael's accident, we would like to thank the people from all over the world who have expressed their support and sent their wishes for recovery. They are giving us great support".

 

Rumours of a possible investigation into the absence of warning signs in the place where Schumacher fell are becoming more insistent. Despite the fact that the director of the Meribel ski resort, Olivier Simonin, claims to be calm ("All our slopes are perfectly marked"), there is no prohibition sign on the stretch where the accident occurred. He wanted to help a child, the daughter of a friend, who had fallen while skiing. This is the version reported by the German newspaper Bild, which specifies that Schumacher was skiing down the Sommet de la Saulire slope with rented skis, behind a group of children he wanted to keep an eye on during the descent. Suddenly one of them fell and, to help her, Schumacher left the track, venturing about twenty meters into fresh snow, between the Biche and Mauduit slopes. Schumacher's spokeswoman reported that the former driver collided with a rock he hadn't seen, losing his balance. The fact that he then hit his head against a second rock was due only to an unfortunate coincidence. He was not skiing too fast, and he was making a normal turn. The German newspaper hypothesizes that what distracted Schumacher during the fall, preventing him from protecting his head with his hands, could have been the circumstance that one of the skis did not detach as it should have. The French police have seized both of them anyway. On Monday, June 6, 2014, comes the news that could shed light on the Meribel incident. The handheld camera that Michael Schumacher had installed on his helmet was working at the time of the fall on the snow. And, according to rumours, the champion was skiing slowly. He was not engaged in any real off-piste skiing. He was simply crossing from one groomed slope to another through a short, but fatal, stretch of ungroomed snow. The images show how at one point one of Schumacher's skis hits an invisible rock, even to the camera lens, because it is covered by a thin layer of snow. At that point it is clear that Schumacher suddenly rotates forward, forcefully pushed, as if catapulted, by the sudden catching of the skis while the bindings disengage and his body continues the race against the rock. Then the former driver plunges as if diving with his head and torso into the fresh snow and hits another hidden rock. At that point the helmet breaks. A theory confirmed by Patrick Quincy, the chief prosecutor of Albertville, the man investigating the incident, and perhaps the solitude of Michael Schumacher. The latter explains why he remained alone, the champion, with his gestures on a December morning, with the mistake of a wrong slope, with the fate of two skis, not one but two, crashing into an invisible rock, with the flight forward, as if from a catapult or an open window, with the impact against another rock, with the darkness that may never dissolve. Judge Quincy investigated, questioned, consulted, and finally explains. A truth as clear as ice, and perhaps already crystallized in the same way. The verdict is simple:

 

"We cannot say yet whether Mr. Schumacher was imprudent, but we can affirm that the slope was safe and well-marked, as required by the law, that the skis were in perfect condition and that the images recorded by the GoPro camera allowed us to reconstruct the dynamics and trajectory perfectly".

 

The incident.

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"It happened at 11:00 in the morning: Mr. Schumacher, an excellent skier, was descending on the Faurire slope, then on the Chamois slope, groomed and protected, then turned into the off-piste and he was aware of it. The footage lasts two minutes and shows the skier making some slight turns to slow down, and anyway the speed is not a particularly important factor for us. It is difficult to determine what it was at the moment of the impact, but I can say that it was appropriate for the type of terrain, not too steep. The impact with the two skis and the first rock occurs nine meters from the slope, the body is whipped forward and falls back three and a half meters further, face down, on an invisible rock. The fresh snow had covered some rocks by five to ten centimetres, while others surfaced".

 

The helmet.

 

"It broke, we have a part of it. Instead the camera remained intact. The material is being studied by the Chamonix School of Skiing and Mountaineering, one of the highest authorities on the subject. The skis were new and in perfect condition".

 

The second footage.

 

"We read Der Spiegel, but no one has ever brought another video. I have many doubts about this, but if it exists we are here to receive it".

 

The audio.

 

"There is also a sound track in the footage, but it's just the noise of the skis, there are no recorded words of any kind".

 

The aid to another skier.

 

"We have no information about Mr. Schumacher providing help to anyone else, before the incident. At least, the video does not show it. However we have already heard from many witnesses: people who were skiing with him, doctors, rescuers, ski rental staff, and we will listen to others. We will also conduct new expert assessments and inspections".

 

The Schumacher family.

 

"They have been very cooperative with us, they spontaneously handed us over the camera and now they ask to be left in peace".

 

The complaints.

 

"I have not received any, and besides the investigation is still ongoing. It will last a few weeks, at the end of which we will decide whether to continue it or close it. At this moment it is not possible to make any predictions. And I cannot state anything about possible insurance issues".

 

The precedents.

 

"We are used to this type of investigation, since about fifty serious accidents happen here every year, although I don't remember a similar one in the same spot. However I can reiterate that all the rules have been followed by the ski resort and that Mr. Schumacher's incident happened beyond the red poles that, by law, delineate the slopes. (But in 2009, the company Méribel Alpina had been sentenced to compensate with 86.000 euros a twenty-four-year-old model, victim of an accident similar to Schumacher's, ed.)".

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The trial.

 

"It can only take place if there is of an error, recklessness or lack of signals. The investigation, in this sense, is at an advanced stage but not yet complete".

 

The danger.

 

"Mr. Schumacher is an excellent skier, and he knows very well the Méribel slopes where he has skied on numerous occasions: therefore, we can say that he deliberately decided to pass where the accident occurred. There are others, similar ones, on the slopes of the ski complex: choosing that kind of track is always dangerous".

 

On Wednesday, January 29, 2014, Sabine Kehm announces:

 

"Michael Schumacher's coma state is being reduced to allow the beginning of the awakening process, which could last a long time. The sedatives administered to Michael have been decreasing for a few days. Initially it was agreed among the parties involved not to communicate this medical information until the awakening process is completed, in order to protect the family. Therefore we will not release any information about the intermediate stages. Michael Schumacher's family again asks to respect his privacy and medical confidentiality and not to disturb the medical professionals in their work".

 

On Monday, February 17, 2014, the investigation opened on December 29, 2013, regarding the skiing incident that occurred to Michael Schumacher, is archived. This is announced by the prosecutor of the Albertville court:

 

"He was skiing off-piste but the information about the route was in accordance with French laws".

 

On Monday, June 16, 2014, after about six months, Sabine Kehm declares that Michael Schumacher has woken up from the coma and has left the hospital to begin a rehabilitation process at a private clinic. Already in April, periods of awakening, regaining consciousness and interaction with the surrounding environment had already been announced. It will finally be decided to undertake a rehabilitation program at the neuroscience centre of the University Hospital of Lausanne, not far from his villa in Gland. On Tuesday, September 9, 2014, Schumacher is discharged from the Lausanne centre to continue rehabilitation at home. From then on the family will maintain absolute silence about the driver's health conditions.


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