Schumacher critical after ski fall

[Margaret]

The seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher is in a critical condition in hospital, following a skiing accident in the French Alps.

Resort managers in Meribel said he had been wearing a helmet when he fell and hit his head on a rock.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-25546336

[rebbonk]

Indeed, sad news. I sincerely hope he makes a swift and full recovery

[Margaret]

Indeed, sad news. I sincerely hope he makes a swift and full recovery

This is terrible sad news, but I fear the worst though.

[Margaret]

Michael Schumacher: 'only a miracle' can save him





Doctors treating Michael Schumacher and other medical experts have told his family that "only a miracle" can save him, sources have claimed.


The seven-time Formula One world champion suffered serious brain injuries after hitting a rock during a skiing accident in the French Alpine ski resort of Meribel in late December.


He is being treated in hospital in Grenoble where he has been in an artificially induced coma for a total of 69 days.


Sources close to his family say the 45-year-old driver's wife Corinna and his brother, Ralf Schumacher, have been consulting brain specialists throughout Europe and have been told that his chances of recovery are minimal.


The family is said to be concerned that the French doctors treating Schumacher have little hope that he will recover and now assume that he will remain in a vegetative state for the rest of his life.




Experts point out that most artificial comas last for an average of three weeks. Schumacher's management team has insisted that doctors are gradually reducing drug levels to bring the driver out of his artificial coma and that he is currently in a "wake up" phase.

In a statement released on Friday, Schumacher's management team insisted there had been no change. "Michael is still in a wake up phase, the situation has not altered," said the driver's management team spokeswoman Sabine Kehm

At the management team's request, the Grenoble hospital treating Schumacher has kept news about his condition to a minimum. However sources close to his family say that the driver's prognosis is bleak. "The family has been told that only a miracle can bring him back now," a senior German journalist reporting on the Schumacher case said. " He is in a bad way but until the family issues a formal statement, we cannot publish anything," he added.

Another source added: "Doctors have given it to them straight. Miracles sometimes happen but there is little hope that he will come out of this."

A fortnight ago, Germany's Focus magazine reported that complications had obliged doctors to halt Schumacher's wake up process and that the driver had been put back into a coma. However Schumacher's management team denied the report.

Coma experts have stressed that the past week should have been crucial for Schumacher's wake up process as doctors would have been hoping for a sign that he was gradually becoming aware of his surroundings.

However last Sunday, the Schumacher family is reported to have spent Corinna Schumacher's 45th birthday gathered around the comatose driver's hospital bed praying in vain for him to acknowledge their presence.

Doctors say that the greatest risk facing the driver while he remains in a coma and unable to swallow properly, is the possibility that he will contract pneumonia as a result of his lungs being filled with fluid.

Should Schumacher manage to emerge from his coma, there appears to be little likelihood that he would be able to live a normal, active life.

Gary Hartstein, a former Formula One doctor told the German media last week: "The majority of patients who come out of a coma alive after this amount of time suffer severe disabilities."

[Margaret]

This is pretty tough for Schumachers family, but hopes of him waking up seem very remote now, plus he is not responding to stimuli.
I am no expert on brain injuries, but hope against the odds is all that is on offer. I do hope he pulls through, but he will need round the clock care if he does.

What I am not clear about is whether he is breathing independently, without being on a respirator.

[rebbonk]

All very sad. I feel for his family...

[Gladys]

This is sad but I also recall in the last few months a story of a man who'd been in a coma for 8 years and then suddenly came out of it. There's always hope and that shows you miracles do happen.

[rebbonk]

I guess where there's life there's hope.

[Gladys]

I think so but then I am an optimist and a half full glass person.Life doesn't always respect these things.

[rebbonk]

I tend to be the other way Gladys. I'm rarely disappointed!

[Margaret]

I tend to be the other way Gladys. I'm rarely disappointed!

Yes, but if he makes some kind of recovery he's not going to enjoy the same quality of life as he previously did.
I know his wife and family love him, but is it selfish to want him to live in a vegetative state , and would he want that?