Michael Schumacher’s wife has provided a revealing update on the Formula One great's condition, saying in a new Netflix documentary that he continues to battle in his recovery from the brain injury sustained in a ski accident nearly eight years ago.
Schumacher, a seven-time F1 world champion, suffered the accident in December 2013 and was placed in a medically induced coma until June 2014. Since September 2014, he has been receiving medical treatment and rehabilitation at the family home on Lake Geneva in Switzerland.
Updates regarding his condition and progress have been infrequent over the years, with the Schumacher family determined to maintain their privacy. His wife's comments for the new Schumacher documentary - which is released on September 15 - have therefore provided some of the most insightful updates of the German's recovery.
“Everybody misses Michael, but Michael is here, different, but here,” Corinna Schumacher says in the documentary. “He still shows me how strong he is every day.
“We’re together. We live together at home. We do therapy. We do everything we can to make Michael better and to make sure he’s comfortable. And to simply make him feel our family, our bond. And no matter what, I will do everything I can. We all will. We’re trying to carry on as a family, the way Michael liked it and still does. And we are getting on with our lives.”
Corinna also reveals some of her husband's last words before his accident as he suggested that they could forgo the skiing trip and head to the UAE instead.
“Shortly before it happened in Meribel he said to me, ‘The snow isn’t optimal. We could fly to Dubai and go skydiving there’,” she says. “I have never blamed God for what happened. It was just really bad luck, all the bad luck anyone can have in life.
“It’s always terrible when you say, ‘Why is this happening to Michael or us?’ But then why does it happen to other people?
“Of course, I miss Michael every day. But it’s not just me who misses him. The children, the family, his father, everyone around him. I mean, everybody misses Michael.”
Schumacher was 52 when the accident happened, while his son Mick was 14 and was with his father at the time. Mick now races in F1 for Haas and the family also has a daughter, Gina.
Schumacher is one of the greatest and most illustrious drivers in F1 history, winning two world titles for Benetton and five with Ferrari over a 19-year career that comprised 91 race wins.
“We’d always made it through his races safely,” Corinna says. “Which is why I was certain he had a few guardian angels that were keeping an eye out for him. I don’t know if it’s just a kind of protective wall that you put up yourself or if it’s because you’re in a way naive but it simply never occurred to me that anything could ever happen to Michael."
