Schumacher not travelling at speed when he fell
However, the former champ was not travelling at speed – and had just helped a friend who had already fallen.
“I think after having spoken with several people who have been with Michael at this moment, Michael and the group have been skiing on slopes that were normal slopes," his long time spokesperson Sabine Kehm reported today.
“Then there is a blue slope and a red slope, and in between there was a part which was deep snow, and Michael went into that. From everything the people told me, he was not even at high speed, because it seems that he even helped a friend who just had fallen on the piste.
“So he started to ski again, went into this deep snow, and apparently, this is what we guess, has hit a rock which he had not seen when he wanted to do a curve, and he was kind of catapulted into the air and apparently, head down, hitting another rock. Which was extreme bad and unfortunate circumstance, and not because he was speeding too much. I have spoken with several people, and also ski teachers, and they tell me it can even happen at 10km/h. It is just very, very unfortunate."
Some positive news came today when surgeons reported that Michael has shown signs of improvement after a second operation, although they stress that he is not yet out of danger and remains in a critical condition.
“Yesterday at the end of the afternoon we had an opportunity to go to the CT scan facility, because the inter-cranial pressure was controlled," said Professor Jean-Francois Payen. “So we went to the CT scan and we discovered that the image was not so bad, not so aggravated compared to the first post-operative CT scan on the Sunday afternoon.
“So we discussed with our colleagues and decided that we should propose a new strategy including the evacuation of a brain hematoma, and this strategy was proposed to the family. With the family’s agreement we went to the operating theater and the hematoma was successfully removed. And the CT scan today is better and the clinical situation is a bit improved compared to yesterday.
“But at this time it’s too premature to make any speculation about his condition."
Meanwhile it has emerged that a journalist disguised as a priest tried to gain access to Michael’s room on Monday. His identity has not been reported. Adam Cooper's F1 Blog