Michael Schumacher in Critical Condition after Falling while Skiing
Former Formula One racing world champion Michael Schumacher is in critical condition after undergoing brain surgery following a skiing accident in the French Alps. The seven-time world champion had been flown to hospital after he fell and hit his head on a rock on Sunday morning.
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.”
Schumacher is said to have been wearing a helmet when he fell at the Meribel resort and was admitted to hospital at the nearby town of Moutiers, before being taken to hospital in Grenoble. A specialist neurosurgeon from Paris was rushed in to oversee his treatment.
Christophe Gernigon-Lecomte, director of the Meribel resort, said he did not know the extent of the injury, “The police are currently conducting their investigation into the origins of the fall.”
Gernigon-Lecomte said that Schumacher, who reportedly owns property at the resort, banged his head on a rock while skiing off-piste near the Dent de Burgin (Tooth of Burgin) chairlift; two medical officers attended Schumacher at the scene of the accident, between the slopes of Georges Mauduit and la Biche, and he was flown by helicopter to hospital within 10 minutes.
“No one else was involved in the fall,” Gernigon-Lecomte said.
Schumacher was hurt seriously once before, in a motorcycling accident in February 2009 in Spain when he suffered neck and spine injuries. He recovered sufficiently from those injuries to make a comeback in F1. He retired from Formula One last year after a three-year comeback with Mercedes, following his earlier retirement from Ferrari.
He now lives in Switzerland with his wife and two children.