“Encouraging signs” from Schumacher – manager

2014 F1 season

Posted on

| Written by

Michael Schumacher’s spokesperson Sabine Kehm says there are “small, encouraging signs” he is beginning to emerge from the coma he has been in for over 14 weeks.

Schumacher suffered serious head injuries when he fell while skiing in Grenoble, France last December.

“We are and remain confident that Michael will pull through and wake up,” said Kehm in a statement on Wednesday.

“There sometimes are small, encouraging signs, but we also know that this is the time to be very patient.”

Schumacher’s family and management have issued several statements in recent weeks to refute media speculation about deterioration in his condition.

“Michael has suffered severe injuries,” the statement continued. “It is very hard to comprehend for all of us that Michael, who had overcome a lot of precarious situations in the past, has been hurt so terribly in such a banal situation.”

“It was clear from the start that this will be a long and hard fight for Michael. We are taking this fight on together with the team of doctors, whom we fully trust. The length of the process is not the important part for us”

“It is heart-warming to see how much sympathy his family is shown and I can say that the family is extremely grateful for it. However, it should not be forgotten that Michael family is dealing with an extremely intimate and fragile situation. And I would like to remind all of us that Michael has always actively kept his family out of the public eye and consequently protected their private lives.”

“We try to channel all the energies we have toward Michael and we firmly believe that this will help him. And we believe that he will also win this fight.”

2014 F1 season


Browse all 2014 F1 season articles

Image © Daimler/Hoch Zwei

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

21 comments on ““Encouraging signs” from Schumacher – manager”

  1. Let’s just hope….

  2. Lucas Wilson (@full-throttle-f1)
    12th March 2014, 8:02

    Sounds encouraging…

  3. I will take any form of good news on Michael. And this is most certainly good. :)

  4. I pray that we hear more good news on his progress and ultimately we get to see him back as the Michael we have always seen him. God bless him, his family and the doctors treating him.

  5. Glad to hear this. Let’s hope it’s the start to a healthy recovery.

  6. I continue hoping for the best.

  7. we also know that this is the time to be very patient.

    Exactly. We’re not watching a TV series where something exciting happens all the time. The truth is that Schumacher is still waking up, the process is going to be long and boring, we most probably won’t get any meaningful news any time soon BUT there is no reason why we should give up hope. Let’s ignore the tabloids, pray for Michael and leave his family in peace.

    1. +1 Fully agree with this @girts.

  8. Karl Wendlinger went into a coma durung 3 weeks after his crash in Monaco in ’94, and Hakkinen 2days, after his crash in Adelaide in ’95, but we are talking about 3 weeks & 2 days, and not more than 10 for “Schumi”, I was and am still a great fan of his, but we have to be realistic, the chances of seeing him back to what he was before this ridiculous accident are probably scarce…I do hope so though !
    It is ambiguous, you take awful risks for years, driving the pinnacle of race cars, and then you go ski with your son and get into a battle for your life.
    How odd, and unfortunate !

  9. Oh, some good news. Keep fighting Michael.

  10. Hmmm, Gary Hartstein has been tweeting that while they’re saying this is encouraging, he can’t see any real reason to be encouraged by what they’re saying. At this point he says they should be looking for him to be able to do thinks like track objects with his eyes, rather than simply showing a vague response to external stimulus. I’d love to think that he’s being pessimistic, but for some reason I just don’t feel particularly cheered by this. It has been over a month since they apparently started the waking process, so I can’t help but feel that by this point you’d have expected a bit more if he was going to make anything like a proper recovery.

    1. At this point he says they should be looking for him to be able to do thinks like track objects with his eyes, rather than simply showing a vague response to external stimulus.

      Do we know that is all he’s doing?

      1. No, Hartstein’s point is that there isn’t actually any substance whatsoever to the press release and that there’s no information there at all which makes for encouraging news. But the phrase ‘small encouraging signs’ doesn’t really equate to progress which would indicate that a recovery is going to come. They haven’t even said that he’s off the ventilator and breathing on his own. The lack of information and positive news seems rather to indicate that very little has changed, and that’s it’s possible he’ll be left in a vegetative state.

        1. @mazdachris I do hear what you are saying. I think therefore that the only option is to keep hoping…the difficulty being in balancing how much hope so as to be positive with what amount is reasonable without getting one’s hopes too high, given, as you say, the amount of time, and the lack of information and positive news.

          When MS was making it look easy out there, and appearing to run away with the season, they would ask him to comment on that…his answer would be, to paraphrase…’So we shouldn’t run the rest of the season then? No…that is why we do all the races.’

          MS is lying there running EVERY race, to see the season to a successful end. And a successful end is never guaranteed, but all you can do is run every race to see.

        2. what does Gary Hartstein actually expect them to say??

          He is probably bang on that things probably have not improved much at all but his constant questioning of the doctors as well as michael’s family and managers is becoming very tiring & i hope im wrong but almost attention seeking (which he also did when he was replaced in his F1 role).

          Let the doctors do their job. Press speculation is going to wake him up.

          1. isnt*

            we really need an edit!!

  11. #KeepFightingMichael

  12. I know this is good news, and I’ll take all I can get when it concerns Michael Schumacher. But still, I must temper this news with the reality that there are still huge challenges ahead for him. I hope he can make the best recovery possible, and I hope that his family can draw strength from his resilience during this difficult time. Forza Michael.

  13. You can do this Michael! Get well soon!!!

  14. Mark in Florida
    13th March 2014, 1:41

    Some people are being pessimistic about Michael’s chances of recovery. We as the public are making assumptions on very little information as to his real condition. Even after he does wake up the extent of possible permanent brain will only be known with extensive testing. I know a lady that was in a coma for six months and she eventually made a full recovery after a lot of physical therapy. If anyone can come back from this it’s Michael his work ethic is legendary.

  15. I had a dream about Michael last night. He was healthy and happy and fit. He was looking at a car to buy, and he did the victory thing where he puts his arms up. We’re all thinking of you Michael.

Comments are closed.