Michael Schumacher’s fans have finally had a chance to learn the truth about his condition. After years of speculation, she has finally revealed who insisted on total media blackout surrounding her husband.
Former Formula One champion and legend of auto sport, Michael Schumacher had an accident during a ski trip in the French Alps in 2013. He suffered a brain injury and has spend most of the time since the accident in hospitals. The public rarely, if ever, had a chance to hear anything about his conditions. The fans were quick to blame his wife, Corinna Schumacher, for this, claiming that she insisted on secluding Schumi from the world. Even his former manager Willi Weber, who managed Michael for twebty years, was barred from visiting him.
“I’d like to know how he’s doing and shake hands or stroke his face,” said Weber. “But unfortunately, this is rejected by Corinna. She’s probably afraid that I’ll see right away what’s going on and make the truth public.”
Corinna has kept to herself and rarely spoke to media about her husband’s condition. Finally, she has decided to answer the accusation that she is preventing Michael’s friends from seeing him. She gave an interview for She’s Mercedes magazine, in which she tried to explain her actions. Mrs. Schumacher claims that it wasn’t her idea to keep Michael isolated.
“He is in the best of hands right now and we are doing everything we can to help him. Try to understand that we follow Michael’s desire to keep his health a secret,” she said.
Currently, Schumacher is located in their family home on Lake Geneve, on a £50 million property. A special medical facility has been created in which a team of ten experts care for Michael every day. His family, including his children Gina-Marie, 22, and Mick, 20, respect his wishes for privacy. For his 50th birthday in January, they issued a statement, but made no mentions about his condition.
“You can be sure that he is in the very best of hands and that we are doing everything humanly possible to help him,” the statement read. “Please understand if we are following Michael’s wishes and keeping such a sensitive subject as health, as it has always been, in privacy.”
The only glimpse of Michael’s condition came from a 2016 trial, when the family sued German tabloid for making claims that he could walk. The family lawyer, Felix Damm, told the court that Michael couldn’t neither walk nor stand without help.
One of Michael’s friends from his glory days that has the privilege of seeing him is Jean Todt, his former boss at Ferrari. In an interview for a French magazine, Todt said: “When you put him in his wheelchair facing the beautiful panorama of the mountains overlooking the lake, Michael sometimes cries.”
He also told the press that he saw a Formula One race with Schumacher and that the champion is still fighting.
“I’m always careful with such statements, but it’s true. I saw the race together with Michael at his home in Switzerland,” said Todt. “He is in the best hands and is well looked after in his house.”
Unfortunately, Michael still has trouble speaking, according to Todt.
“His family is fighting just as much, and of course our friendship cannot be the same as it once was, just because there’s no longer the same communication as before,” said Todt.
In the meantime, Corinna is taking care of his business ventures, estimated at half a billion pounds. So far, about £20 million of that money has been spent on Michael’s medical bills. Fortunately, that isn’t a concern, especially with sponsors like Mercedes, who remained loyal to Schumi, despite everything.
Nicola Holder