Formula 1 Champion Michael Schumacher In Coma After Ski Accident
Michael Schumacher, one of the
greatest Formula 1 racers of all time, remains in critical condition
after falling on a backcountry ski run in the French Alps.
Seven-time
Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher defied death dozens of times on
the racetrack during his long career driving for Italy’s Benetton and
Ferrari teams. His daredevil talent catapulted him to global fame as one
of the greatest F1 drivers of all time. The 44-year-old German
survived fiery crashes and dozens of wall-smashing rollovers before
retiring definitively in 2012. His off-track hobbies include moto-cross
driving and skydiving. Throughout all of it, his worst injury had been a
broken leg.
But a banal tumble on an off-piste ski run in the
French Alps this weekend has proved far more threatening to the
world-class athlete than any of his previous activities.
Doctors
say Schumacher, who was considered to be an excellent skier, would not
have survived the accident at all had he not been wearing a helmet at
the time he fell and hit his head on a rock on Sunday. The helmet was
damaged in the fall, which apparently happened when he slipped on a
backcountry run. He was skiing with a small group, including his teenage
son, but authorities say no one else was involved in the accident.
Schumacher is being kept in a state of therapeutic hypothermia in a
medically-induced coma after emergency brain surgery on Sunday to
alleviate pressure from lesions on his brain. He was conscious
immediately after the accident, according to his 14-year-old son, who
called for help for his father, but his condition deteriorated when he
tried to get up. He was airlifted to safety by helicopter, arriving at
the hospital in an “agitated state” and was unable to answer simple
questions, according to attending physician Jean-Francois Payen.
On Monday, Jean-Marc Grenier, care director of the Grenoble hospital
where Schumacher is being treated, said the champion athlete is fighting
for his life, “suffering from a serious cranial injury and is in a coma
and required immediate neurological intervention on his arrival. He
remains in a critical condition.”
The doctor did not rule out a
second brain surgery, and he would not comment on Schumacher’s chances
of survival, or whether he could be paralyzed or suffer permanent brain
damage if he does survive.
France’s leading brain surgeon and a F1
racing fan, Gérard Saillant, flew to Grenoble from Paris to assist in
the surgery, commenting that a lesser man could not survive the type of
head injury Schumacher is battling.
“Someone of 70 is less likely to
survive this sort of accident than someone who is 45, and someone like
Michael who is in top condition is more likely to survive than someone
else,” he said after the surgery.
Tension was high in Maranello,
Italy, where Schumacher brought Ferrari to the podium in F1 racing more
than any other racer. He won 91 victories for both Benetton and
Ferrari, 40 more wins than any other F1 racer in the record books.
“These are hours of great concern for everyone here at Ferrari since
hearing about the accident with Michael Schumacher,” Ferrari President
Luca di Montezemolo said in a statement on the Ferrari website,
adding that he was in constant contact with Schumacher’s family.
Schumacher acted as an advisor to the Ferrari team after a brief
retirement in 2009 and is considered one of Italy’s favorite adopted
sons, despite having a reputation for being a ruthless competitor.
Tributes and well wishes trended on Twitter
for the champion’s speedy recovery. Several high-profile F1
luminaries, including Jean Todt, who managed the Ferrari team during
Schumacher’s glory years, are holding vigil at the French hospital with
Schumacher’s immediate family.
source: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/12/30/formula-1-champion-michael-schumacher-in-coma-after-ski-accident.html
Tiada ulasan:
Catat Ulasan