On December 29, 2013, Michael Schumacher was on the “Biche” slope in Meribel, France, with his then 14-year-old son Mick. This posed no challenge for an experienced skier like the German Formula 1 star. The then 44-year-old, who had ended his active racing career a year earlier, turned into the unprepared area next to the track barrier and fell and hit his head so hard on a rock that his helmet broke. As was later determined, he had not been traveling excessively fast and certainly not at breakneck speed.
“That was just really bad luck. You can’t have more bad luck in life,” said his wife Corinna Schumacher later in a Netflix documentary about the fateful accident. Apart from this film, released two years ago, the family has built a wall of silence around Michael Schumacher. After a few months in the intensive care unit of the Grenoble hospital, the seven-time Formula 1 world champion finally disappeared from the scene in the summer of 2014.
Image: APA/AFP/ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/PATRICK HERTZOG
Schumi stories bring ratings
Media that speculate about the condition of the father of two now grown children (Mick/24, Gina/26) receive mail from the family’s lawyer. Especially on online portals, stories with sensational titles such as “This is how Michael Schumacher really feels” reliably increase the number of hits. Especially now, when the anniversary of the momentous accident arrives.
There are very few initiated people who really know the answer to this question. In addition to the family, confidants such as ex-Ferrari team boss Jean Todt are allowed to visit Schumacher regularly. His long-time press spokeswoman Sabine Kehm still speaks to journalists here and there, but she doesn’t say much in concrete terms.
Image: APA/EPA/PAUL ZINKEN
Word donations instead of information
Part of the Formula 1 star’s feudal estate in Switzerland has been converted into a private clinic. Up to 15 doctors and therapists should be part of the care team. Everyone adheres to confidentiality. Since there are no official comments, donations of words from former Schumacher companions are often collected. “When I think about Michael now, unfortunately I no longer have any hope of seeing him again. No positive news after ten years,” said former manager Willi Weber recently.
“I knew from ski trips together that Michael was anything but a risk-taking skier, as one might generally expect of a racing driver,” ex-Mercedes motorsport director Norbert Haug said.
A few days ago, brother Ralf Schumacher gave the Bild newspaper insights into his emotional world. “I miss my Michael from back then. Thank God, thanks to modern medical options, a lot could be done, but still nothing is like it used to be.”
The family is said to have been considering publishing some kind of “final report” about his health before Michael Schumacher’s 55th birthday next Wednesday. We got away from it again. Maybe also because you hope that the difficult fate you currently have to overcome is not a final state.
First “interview”: editor-in-chief had to leave
The temptation to increase the ratings with exclusive stories about the fate of Michael Schumacher is still great. In April this year, the shamelessness in this area reached a peak. The German weekly magazine “Die Aktuelle” showed a portrait of the Formula 1 star on its front page and included the headline “Michael Schumacher, the first interview”. The addition “world sensation” was also a must. It was only the text inside that revealed the “world sensation” as a fake. The first “interview” was not conducted with Schumacher, but with an artificial intelligence.
This story wasn’t a particularly intelligent idea. The Funke magazine publisher fired the editor-in-chief of the weekly magazine shortly after the KI interview was published. They also apologized to the family, who had announced a lawsuit against the publisher because of this poor taste.
Learned nothing
However, there was no real learning process, because a little later the magazine “Das goldene Blatt”, which is also published by this publishing group, showed a beaming Michael Schumacher with his wife Corinna on the cover. Title: “Happiness cheers. NO ONE EXPECTED THAT”. The story consisted of old quotes from Schumacher’s wife and brought no news. In a Netflix documentary, Corinna Schumacher explained that she is taking legal action against such reports: “Michael has always protected us, now we are protecting Michael.”
Author
Christoph Zöpfl
Head of sports department
Christoph Zöpfl
