Full recovery not expected for Schumacher: "He is in a vegetative state"

Last Wednesday, the documentary 'Michael Schumacher: In Search of the Truth' premiered. RMC Story made an attempt to find out more about the current state of health of the seven-time F1 world champion. The French independent television channel interviewed several experts, such as an emergency doctor and a neurologist.

In December 2013, Michael Schumacher was seriously injured after a terrible skiing accident in the Alps. The former Ferrari driver is said to have awakened from his coma, but almost nothing is known about Schumacher's situation. The media is being kept at a distance.

The neurosurgeon does not expect a full recovery

RMC Story went to investigate anyway. According to Erich Riederer, a neurologist in Zurich, Schumacher had surgery too late. "Neurosurgeons always say that time is a brain, which means you have to act immediately. In my opinion, we waited too long for the brain to be relieved. If you let that time pass, you are going to destroy brain substances. Have they waited too long? Probably," says the expert.

According to Riederer, the 51-year-old German is 'in a vegetative state'. What does this mean exactly? "It means that he is awake, but not responding. He is breathing, his heart is beating, he can probably sit up straight and take small steps with the help of people, but that's all. I think that's the maximum. Is there any chance that he will be the same as before the accident? I don't think so."

Emergency doctor Gérald Kierzek also spoke in the broadcast. "After more than six years he is in a state of serious head injury, probably bedridden, unable to walk and with a muscle breakdown that has caused a marked physical metamorphosis," says the French doctor, who also does not believe Schumacher will make a full recovery.

Biographer expects the worst

Schumacher once had a biography written about himself by Luc Domenjoz. This biographer, too, doesn't expect Schumacher to ever fully recover. "We think that life will end soon because his body will be too weak", in which he states that it would not be strange if Schumacher were to die 'soon'.

Erich Riederer, Gérald Kierzek and Luc Domenjoz are one of the many people who collaborated on the documentary 'Michael Schumacher: In Search of the Truth'. GPBlog.com would like to inform its visitors that these statements don't have to mean anything about the current state of Michael Schumacher.