Shortly after striking his head during a ski run on December 29, former Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher was put into a medically induced coma. Yesterday his manager released a statement that said Schumacher was showing "moments of consciousness and awakening." He didn't provide any other details. Over the past three months there have been rumors that the 45 year old who won seven championships and retired back in 2012 would never wake up. There were other rumors that his family was going to take him off life support. Now, there is this news. It would be great if this progress results in him waking up and a full recovery.
Hope he's on the road to recovery. As a 42 year old person who's never snow skiied (how do you spell that?), these famous skiing head injuries (Sonny, Liam's wife) make me think I definitely don't need to take up the sport.
ReplyDeleteIt's not that fun
DeleteGive me water skiing any day...
DeleteLET GO OF THE ROPE!!!
3 months in a coma, sad to say but not going to be the same.
ReplyDeleteI wish him the best.
ReplyDeleteThat is wonderful news for his family and fans! It also goes to show that people need to think twice before pulling el pluggo.
ReplyDeleteWith so little (and confusing) info released to date, I really hope this is true. He is truly one of motorsports greatest legends. Forza Shumi!
ReplyDeleteOften natural twitches are mistaken for "signs of life". After three months in a medically induced coma, I wouldn't expect much. Sad, but these are the consequences of doing extreme skiing. I wouldn't expect anything but from someone who was a race car driver, though.
ReplyDeleteSchumacher has his fans but I'm not one of them. Hope he gets healthy, but geezus this guy is an asshole. One of the most unsportsman like fucks in the history of sports. See for yourself.
ReplyDeleteA guy I went to high school with was in a medically induced coma for 2 and a bit months after a car accident about 5 years ago. And he eventually woke up. But it's not like the movies where one day you just open your eyes and say "hey what's going on?". It was little twitches, gradually more physical responses, very gradual eye movements, and even when he was starting to open his eyes, it took over a week from 'starting to open his eyes' to what you would actually think of as being 'conscious'.
ReplyDeleteHe will never be exactly the same as he was, but he is doing really well. He got married a couple years ago, and he went back to work about 2 years after the accident. It took a LONG time and a LOT of rehab but he has a good life ahead of him.
So yes, good things can happen, even after three months. If there is still brain activity, there is a good chance for some amount of recovery. A situation like this where he's in a medically induced coma to protect his brain is a completely different situation than those where the person is actually braindead, and their family just wants to hope, even when the doctors said there is no hope. In this case, there are a lot of reasons to think that there is a chance he will eventually regain some level of consciousness and functioning.
I'm sorry to hear about your acquaintance's plight, CharRicho ... sounds similar to someone I know of. The learning to walk, write, drive ... everything, really, was just so heartbreaking. I've heard that the longer someone is in a coma for, the longer the recovery period.
DeleteI read elsewhere that his family have built a $10m surgical wing in their home ... I think that is amazing - for him to recover at home, surrounded by his loved ones, is fantastic.
If anyone can make a good recovery it's Schumacher. The man is strong, fit and healthy. Not to mention stubborn as feck.
ReplyDeleteI love F1 so I'm really rooting for him. He is actually a legend.
@leekalicious, I can't imagine anyone not thinking twice, or even 10 times before they have to make a decision like pulling the plug, gold diggers aside.
ReplyDeleteThis has to be one of the toughest decisions someone would ever have to make and I don't think it's ever done lightly.
From an interview today with a neurologist NOT involved in the case:
ReplyDelete"“You can have sleep-wake cycles in somebody who is as good as unconscious, and not likely to make a recovery,” he said. “By contrast, it could be that he still only has occasional signs of being conscious, but in those moments has been able to interact with those around him. The simplest example of that would be if a loved one says, ‘Squeeze my hand,’ and the patient squeezes their hand, because that means the patient has understood the words.
“If that has been the case with Michael, there would be a strong probability that Michael could make a substantial recovery.”
What I find eerie is that Schumacher wouldn't have been half the star he was if not for the death of Aryton Senna opening the way for him to win all his titles without his competition. And then exactly 20 years later he ends up just like Senna, in a coma clinging to life, just from a ski accident not a race accident. What an odd tale of star-crossed, intertwined lives.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I'm not sure Schumacher will pull out of this. As is all we've heard sounds too grim, I can only imagine what we don't know is worse. Being in a coma so long now, the chances something else like infection will set in too are high.