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A
helicopter is parked in front of the emergency department of the Centre
Hospitalier Universitaire hospital in Grenoble, French Alps, on December 29,
2013 where Formula One legend Michael Schumacher is receiving treatment
after a
ski accident (AFP, Jeff Pachoud)
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Lyon —
Michael Schumacher, the seven-time Formula One champion, is in a coma and
remains in a "critical" condition after striking his head in a ski
accident in the French Alps on Sunday, the hospital treating him said.
The
44-year-old German was "suffering a serious brain trauma with coma on his
arrival, which required an immediate neurosurgical operation", the
hospital in the southeast French city of Grenoble said in a statement.
"He
remains in a critical condition."
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In this
photo taken on August 30, 2012, Mercedes'
German driver Michael Schumacher
attends
a press conference in Spa ahead of the
Belgium Formula One Grand Prix
(AFP/File,
Dimitar Dilkoff)
|
Schumacher
had been skiing off-piste in the upmarket Meribel resort, where he reportedly
has a property, when he fell and hit his head on a rock, mountain police who
gave him first aid said.
He was
airlifted to a local hospital, then to the Grenoble facility. A specialist
neurosurgeon from Paris was rushed in to oversee his treatment.
The
director of the Meribel resort, Christophe Gernigon-Lecomte, had said just
after the accident that Schumacher had been wearing a helmet and was
"conscious but a little agitated" just after the accident, suggesting
he had not received life-threatening injuries.
But when
Schumacher then fell into coma, doctors realised the damage was worse than
initially feared.
The two
mountain police officers who gave first aid said Schumacher was suffering
"severe cranial trauma" when they got to him and a helicopter was
brought in to evacuate him within 10 minutes.
A renowned
Paris neurosurgeon, doctor Gerard Saillant, was brought to the Grenoble
hospital in a police car to take charge of the famous patient.
The
hospital statement was signed by the facility's neurosurgeon, the professor in
charge of its anaesthesia/revival unit, and the hospital's deputy director.
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A Scuderia
Ferrari and Michael Schumacher
fan waits on December 29, 2013 in Grenoble,
in
front of the emergency department of
the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire
hospital
(AFP, Jeff Pachoud)
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Schumacher
was on a private stay in Meribel, according to his spokeswoman. He is to have
his 45th birthday next Friday.
A towering
figure in Formula One
Schumacher,
who won the last of his world titles in 2004, definitively retired in 2012 in
the Brazilian Grand Prix, in which he finished seventh, after an abandoned
attempt to quit six years earlier.
Since his
debut in 1991, the German towered over the sport, winning more Formula One
world titles and races than any other. He had a record 91 wins and is one of
only two men to reach 300 grands prix.
Schumacher's
duels in his heyday with Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve, fired by an
unquenchable competitive spirit, have gone down in Formula One lore.
Schumacher
was born in January 1969 near Cologne, Germany, the son of a bricklayer who
also ran the local go-kart track, where his mother worked in the canteen.
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A picture
taken on January 17, 2003
shows Formula One World champion
Michael Schumacher
holding his skis
before a giant slalom race in Madonna di
Campiglio (AFP/File,
Vincenzo Pinto)
|
By 1987,
Schumacher was the German and European go-kart champion and was soon racing
professionally. In 1991 he burst into Formula One by qualifying seventh in his
debut race in Belgium and a year later he was racing for Benetton, where he won
his first Formula One grand prix in 1992.
After
joining Ferrari in 1996, Schumacher achieved infamy by trying to ram Villeneuve
off the road at Jerez in the last race of 1997, and was disqualified from the
championship as punishment.
Over the
next decade, he went from strength to strength, dominating the podium, before
trying to retire the first time aged 37.
But the
father of three could not resist the lure of the track and in 2010 he signed a
three-year deal with Mercedes.
But slower
reflexes and a less competitive car meant Schumacher could not reproduce his
former glory and he quit for good in 2012. His helmet had a message for fans:
"Life is about passions -- Thank you for sharing mine."
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