He is among the most well-known sportspeople of all time.
But for the last decade, Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher, 55, has been virtually missing from public life.
His disappearance followed a life-changing skiing incident in 2013, which put him in a devastating coma.
A statement released nearly a year after the accident told fans he was no longer in a coma and was ‘continuing a long phase of rehabilitation’.
Now, as the father-of-two is spotted for the first time at his daughter’s Spanish wedding, fans are asking: what is the state of his health today?
Formula 1 legend Michael Schumer, 55, who suffered a life-changing skiing accident in 2013, was reportedly seen in public for the first time in over a decade at his daughter’s wedding in Spain
The last proper update fans received was in 2023, when it was reported that Schumacher had been driven in a Mercedes AMG sportscar in a bid to stimulate areas of his brain he once used for racing.
Former Farrari boss Jean Todt has spoken about his recovery several times since the accident.
In an interview with French magazine late last year he said: ‘Michael is here, so I don’t miss him. [But he] is simply not the Michael he used to be. He is different and is wonderfully guided by his wife and children who protect him.
‘His life is different now and I have the privilege of sharing moments with him.
‘That’s all there is to say. Unfortunately, fate struck him ten years ago. He is no longer the Michael we knew in Formula One.’
Rumours that Schumacher is unable to speak were backed up by his son, Mick, during a 2021 Netflix documentary about his father’s life. He said: ‘I think dad and me, we would understand each other now in a different way now.’
Very little has emerged about known about the state of Schumacher’s health since his accident due to the strict privacy controls put in place by his wife Corinna and his inner circle.
But rumours have circulated, earlier this year former British F1 star Johnny Herbert said he had heard ‘second-hand’ that Schumacher’s was now able to ‘sit at the dinner table’.
In 2020 Elisabetta Gregoraci ex-wife of Schumacher’s former boss appeared to leak that the driver could now only communicate with his eyes in widely reported comments.
A file picture dated 11 January 2000 shows German the Formula One Ferrari driver Schumacher carving a turn while skiing at the Italian resort of Madonna di Campiglio, Italy
However, speaking at time on Italy’s version of reality TV show Big Brother, she also said his family had been moved to Spain in a villa converted to a hospital, a claim widely refuted by Schumacher’s family and friends and now widely dismissed.
In 2019 it was reported that he underwent stem cell treatment in a bid to revive his nervous system, undergoing the cutting-edge procedure at the Georges Pompidou European Hospital in Paris.
Doctors at the time reported Schumacher was ‘conscious’ but provided no further information.
In 2015 Italian media reported he was able to cry at the sound of his children’s voices and recognise faces in a sign of a ‘long, slow recovery’.
This followed comments from Philippe Streiff, another former F1 driver, who told French media that Schumacher ‘has yet to recover the power of speech’ but is ‘nevertheless starting to recognise those close to him’.
Streiff also said Schumacher was paralysed and in a wheelchair unable to speak and with memory problems. Schumacher’s family disputed the comments.
The effects of a traumatic brain injury depends on a number of factors such as the type, location and severity of injury, brain injury charity Headway says.
It adds that symptoms of a brain injury are wide-ranging, from physical effects such as balance problems, headaches, and dizziness, to cognitive, emotional and behavioural effects. This can include memory problems, fatigue, and anger.
On December 29, 2013, Schumacher’s life was swiftly altered by the tragic accident while on a family holiday in the French Alps.
He fell metres away from a popular ski slope that resulted in critical head injuries.
Deciding to go off-piste, Schumer was unaware of some boulders concealed from view by snowfall.
His skis clipped one such boulder and the sudden force catapulted him into the air — leaving him powerless to avoid a head-first collision with another rock.
He fractured his skull and was left with a brain injury.
Ski patrollers and a helicopter rescue team arrived at the scene within minutes, with eyewitnesses claiming Schumacher was conscious after the accident, but was unable to answer questions and was moving erratically.
Recognising the severity of the situation, the rescue team quickly immobilised him and transported him to the nearby Moutiers Hospital, where he arrived at 11.53am.
From there, a helicopter airlifted him to the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Grenoble, a leading medical facility equipped with a specialised neurosurgery unit, for two lifesaving surgeries to reduce pressure on the brain.
The driver survived both surgeries against the odds, but remained in critical condition for several weeks.
By April 2014, Schumacher was being withdrawn gradually from the medically induced coma, a process that was completed in June 2014.
A later investigation deemed Schumacher was travelling at a normal speed and was not skiing beyond his abilities at the moment of his accident.
But it is thought his injuries — which would have almost certainly been fatal had the former driver not been wearing a helmet — were exacerbated by a previous motorcycle accident in 2019 which he suffered fractures in his head and neck.
He then spent six months in a coma to aid his recovery and did not return to his family home in Switzerland until nine months after the accident.
Medical professionals and his wife are thought to provide round-the-clock care.
