[ 2013-12-30 ]

Michael Schumacher ‘fighting for his life’
Michael Schumacher had emergency brain surgery
last night after sustaining a head injury in a
skiing accident near Meribel in the French Alps.
The most successful driver in the history of
Formula One racing fell while skiing with his
14-year-old son, and banged his head on a rock.
The teenager was unharmed.
Schumacher was airlifted by helicopter to a
hospital in Moutiers, then transferred to another
hospital in Grenoble, which is better equipped to
treat head injuries. A statement issued by the
hospital in Grenoble said: “He was suffering
from a serious head injury and was in a coma when
he arrived, which required an immediate
neurosurgical operation.”
The respected regional newspaper Le Dauphiné
Libéré said that the former world champion was
fighting for his life. Olivier Panis, a former
French Formula One driver, tried to visit his
friend in hospital but was not allowed to see him.
“I will come back tomorrow,” Panis said.
“Yes, I am worried.”
The Mountain Gendarmerie said that Schumacher, 44,
had been wearing a helmet when he fell, sustaining
a “relatively serious” injury. Hospital
officials had initially said that his condition
was not life-threatening and that he was having a
scan. Hours later, however, Gérard Saillant, a
renowned neurosurgeon, was flown in from Paris.
The driver’s wife, Corinna, and their two
children were by his bedside.
There was confusion about whether he was skiing
off-piste when he fell. The Gendarmerie said that
he was at a  junction between two marked
runs, one red and the other blue. However,
Christophe Gernigon-Lecomte, the director of the
Meribel resort, said that he was off-piste. Police
are investigating. One theory is that Schumacher
may have strayed off-piste by mistake. The
authorities have warned against skiing off-piste
because of a high risk of avalanches. Six people
have died in the French Alps since Christmas.
Mr Gernigon-Lecomte said that the emergency
services had reached Schumacher almost
immediately. “It all happened very quickly and
he was conscious after the accident, but a bit
shaken,” he said. “The helicopter arrived in
less than 15 minutes.”
Schumacher is an experienced skier and owns a
chalet in Meribel. Sabine Kehm, his manager, said
that no one else was involved in the accident.
The driver was seriously injured in a motorcycling
accident in 2009, when he suffered neck and spine
injuries, but recovered sufficiently to resume
racing.
During a 19-year career, Schumacher won seven
Formula One world championships, including five
straight titles from 2000-04. The German holds
many grand-prix records for the fastest laps, the
most pole positions and the highest number of
victories in a season — 13 in 2004. He won world
championships with Ferrari and Benetton.
He retired from the sport in 2006, only to make a
comeback in 2010with Mercedes. However, after a
couple of disappointing years, in which he secured
only one podium finish, he finally quit Formula
One racing at the end of last year.
Martin Brundle, who was Schumacher’s team-mate
at Benetton in 1992 and 1993, tweeted: “Let’s
hope Michael Schumacher’s ski shunt is not too
bad and that he’s totally fixable. He’s a
crazy brave skydiving/bike racing daredevil.”

Source - The Times(UK)

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