Former F1 racing champion Michael Schumacher had a skiing accident in December 2013 and has been in a coma for the past nine months due to serious head injuries. His full recovery is still questionable at the moment.
Although friends and family previously reported that he has been making steady progress, there is still no specific timeframe as to when he will be back in full health. In a report by CrossMap.com, Sabine Kehm, Schumacher's manager, said that the German racer is steadily improving, although it will be a long and challenging road to recovery.
Kehm stated to The Local, "Michael is making progress appropriate to the severity of his situation, but it will be a difficult and long process."
Philippe Streiffe, Schumacher's friend who visited him in October 2014, said that Michael was getting better, although "everything is relative". He reportedly had speech and memory problems. Jean Todt, president of the International Automobile Federation, also said that Michael had been showing signs of progress.
Also, French journalist Jean-Louis Moncet said in October in a report by News.com, "Although things are going at a slow pace, he has a lot of time, I would say he has his whole life in front of him to get back on track."
In the same CrossMap report, doctors predict that Schumacher will be able to talk and walk normally in three years, but it is highly doubtful that he can ever return to racing.
In the same News.com report, Schumacher is currently being treated by a team of 15 specialists, at his home in Switzerland. The 45-year-old racer depends on tubes and machines to eat and breathe. The specialists check on Michael every hour to determine his status and if there are improvements. He is also massaged several hours a day to keep his muscles stimulated.
In an article by Express, a longtime friend of the Schumacher family, who preferred to stay anonymous, said, "He didn't die in the accident and he didn't die during the two emergency operations that followed it." The insider added, "He came out of the coma and he has had periods of awakening where he is able to make the smallest of nods. The question remains, however, about how much improvement can be expected in the coming months and years. Will he speak again? Will he walk again? Will he be able to feed and dress himself."
The source continued, "The doctors don't know. No one can know. The probability is that he will never be the man he was before the accident. That much is starkly clear."