Michael Schumacher’s family lawyer has finally revealed why the Formula One legend never released a report on his health after his skiing accident.
The racing champion sustained life-threatening injuries whilst skiing which left him in a medically induced coma in December 2013.
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Although he woke up from that coma 250 days later, he underwent two operations to remove blood clots, and very little was said other than the fact that he faces a long road ahead.
In the 10 years since the racing champion fell whilst skiing in Meribel, France, Schumacher has remained out of the public eye.
Schumacher’s wife, Corinna, has protected the privacy of her husband to such an extent that only their immediate family, and closest of friends know any details.
The Schumacher’s family lawyer, Felix Damm, has played a pivotal part in this, The Sun reports.
Speaking to the German news outlet LTO, Damm explained that an official report was never released to the public to protect private matters.
“Of course, we discussed a lot about how this is possible. So we also considered whether a final report about Michael’s health could be the right way to do this,” he said.
“But that wouldn’t have been the end of it and there would have had to be constantly updated ‘water level reports’. Because as those affected, it is not up to you to put an end to the media.
“They could pick up on such a report again and again and ask, ‘And what does it look like now?’ one, two, three months or years after the message.
“And if we then wanted to take action against this reporting, we would have to deal with the argument of voluntary self-disclosure.”
As Damm explains, no one can claim the privacy of a fact that they have themselves disclosed to the public.
But, even if a friend, acquaintance, or family member discloses private information, this infringes on the private sphere.
This, Damm takes care to clarify, is not a case of voluntary self disclosure, and so the affected person is still able to defend themselves.
He maintains that his approach to the situation has strengthened the privacy protection of the Formula One legend and his family.
And while he understands that the many Schumacher fans want to know how the star is doing, he believes that they should be able to handle the lack of report, and respect the family’s privacy.
This comes after Formula One journalist, Roger Benoit, told Swiss newspaper Blick that Schumacher was “a case without hope.”
Formula One legend and friend of Schumacher, Johnny Herbert, called the comment “horrible”, but did reveal that Schumacher was “not close” to his former self following his ski crash.
He continued by saying his friends are often left in the dark about his health.
Speaking to Grosvenor Sport, the ex-Sky Sports pundit said: “There’s never any news. What we do know is we never hear any positive news.
“That’s the horrible thought that he is still not able to be close to the Michael that we all remember. And that is very sad.”
He also reflected on how the star’s crash affected his younger brother, Raf Schumacher, and the honest character that Michael had always been.
“Ralf has had to do a lot of things for and with the family given what happened to Michael.
“He has matured. He is very different now to the person he was as a driver.
“He is a good human being now. He has changed a lot having had to cope with the ongoing situation with his brother.”
While Corinna used the Netflix documentary Schumacher to comment: “I mean, everybody misses Michael, but Michael is here.”
“Different, but he’s here and that gives us strength, I find.
“We try to carry on a family as Michael liked it and still does. And we are getting on with our lives.
“’Private is private’, as he always said. It is very important to me that he can continue to enjoy his private life as much as possible.”
This story originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission.
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