Michael Schumacher able to 'sit at the dinner table,' says former teammate in rare update on F1 legend's health
9 January 2024, 15:35 | Updated: 9 January 2024, 16:16
Michael Schumacher is able to ‘sit at the dinner table’, retired F1 star Johnny Herbert has said.
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The F1 legend has not been seen in public after suffering life-threatening injuries in the French Alps in 2013.
After falling and hitting his head on a rock, Schumacher spent 250 days in a medically-induced coma in hospital before being permitted to return home.
Few have seen or visited the seven-time world champion since he suffered his near-fatal brain injury, and reports of the German's condition are extremely rare.
But now retired British F1 star Johnny Herbert has provided an update on Schumacher, 55, as he said the star sits at the table for dinner.
“I hear bits only second hand,” Herbert told BettingSites.co.uk.
“I hear, from those within F1, he does sit at the table for dinner but don’t know if that is true. I can only read between the lines.
“We haven’t heard much from the family and understandably so. That has always been very much a part of Michael and the family’s way to keep everything very private, very secretive.
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“That has carried on from his racing days. I don’t feel things have moved on in a way that many of us who knew him and many of his fans around the world want to see.
“They’d love to know, we’d all love to know that things are moving on in a positive way. But because we don’t have any information, we can only assume that he is not yet in a position where there is a chance of a recovery.”
The 55-year-old is reportedly being treated at his home in Lake Geneva.
Herbert continued: “In my opinion, and I must stress this, because we haven’t heard anything from the family, it shows that unfortunately, he is probably in a similar situation as he was straight after the accident.
“It doesn’t seem they have moved much, if at all. I suppose the family is waiting for science to come up with something that will hopefully bring back the Michael we all knew and for the people who only saw him through the television pictures when he was being dynamic on a race track.”
It comes after it emerged that Schumacher was put in a Mercedes AMG car and driven around as part of his care.
It was hoped the seven-time world champion's brain would be stimulated by familiar sounds.
Meanwhile, Ralf, Michael's brother who also raced in F1, previously said: "I miss the Michael of the old days. Life is unfair from time to time.
"Michael was very lucky throughout his life. But then there was this tragic accident."
He added: "Fortunately, advanced medical science provides many opportunities. However, nothing is like it used to be."
