'Horrible' Michael Schumacher health update as ex-team mate admits accident has 'changed' brother Ralf
15 September 2023, 11:06
Michael Schumacher is "not close" to his former self following his horror ski crash, his ex-teammate has revealed.
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The seven-time F1 world champion suffered an accident while skiing in the Alps with his family, hitting his head on a rock in 2013.
After being rushed to hospital he was put in a medically induced coma for 250 days before returning home, having suffered a near fatal brain injury.
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Since then he has lived a very private life with his family in Switzerland. Few have seen or visited Schumacher, and even some friends and relatives have been kept in the dark by those closest to him in an effort to prevent leaks to the press.
Speaking to Grosvenor Sport, Johnny Herbert, who used to be the German motor racing legend's teammate, hinted that even his friends are kept in the dark.
He said: "There’s never any news. What we do know is we never hear any positive news.
"That’s the horrible thought that he is still not able to be close to the Michael that we all remember. And that is very sad.
"When Ralf Schumacher was with Sky Germany we often met.
"Ralf has had to do a lot of things for and with the family given what happened to Michael.
"He has matured. He is very different now to the person he was as a driver.
"He is a good human being now. He has changed a lot having had to cope with the ongoing situation with his brother."
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Earlier this month French journalist Roger Benoit, a close friend of Schumacher's, claimed the 54-year-old's case is one "without hope" in a tragic health update earlier in September - with Herbert saying it was a "horrible" update.
He added: "There's never any news. What we do know is we never hear any positive news.
"That's the horrible thought that he is still not able to be close to the Michael that we all remember. And that is very sad."
