Former seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher's father, Rolf (C), arrives at the hospital where his son is being treated after sustaining a head injury during a ski accident, in Grenoble, France, Tuesday. — AP Fake priest 'tried to approach Schumacher in hospital'
GRENOBLE, France — French doctors treating Michael Schumacher for brain injuries sustained in a ski fall said the seven-time Formula One world champion was in slightly better condition Tuesday after an overnight operation, but that he remained fragile. The 44-year-old German is battling for his life after slamming his head against a rock while skiing off-piste in the French resort of Meribel Sunday, an accident which triggered an outpouring of concern among fans around the world. Doctors treating him at a hospital in the eastern city of Grenoble said his condition had stabilized enough by late Monday to carry out a new operation to treat the effects of internal bleeding within Schumacher's skull. “The situation is more under control than Monday but we cannot say he is out of danger,” Jean-Francois Payen, head anaesthetician, told a news conference at the CHU hospital in the eastern French city of Grenoble. “We have won some time but we must continue an hour-by-hour surveillance ... It is premature to speculate on his condition,” he said, adding that Schumacher was still in a critical state and suffering from severe lesions and contusions. Emmanuel Gay, head of the hospital's neurosurgery service, said the operation carried out around 10.00 pm (2100 GMT) Monday had successfully removed a large hematoma — the medical term for a build-up of blood — from his brain. “It was larger and more accessible (than others) ... We judged we could remove it without taking any risks,” Gay said. He said the operation was designed to reduce, within Schumacher's skull, the pressure on the brain. Doctors said the fact that the retired motor racing champion was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident had at least enabled him to make it to the hospital alive. Payen said the medical team in Grenoble had discussed the operation with Schumacher's family. He added that the condition of the motor racing great was still too fragile to consider transferring him to another hospital for the time being. Schumacher was skiing “with a small group of friends” as well as his 14-year-old son Mick, his manager Sabine Kehm told journalists at the hospital. In the accident, “apparently the helmet broke,” she said. “That doesn't mean that Michael was travelling at high speed. He seems to have hit a rock as he took a turn. It was a chain of unfortunate circumstances.” Kehm added that the accident could have happened even “at 10 kilometers per hour” and took place during “a normal turning maneuver”. Schumacher, who lives in Switzerland with his wife and two children, is the most successful Formula One driver of all times. French authorities have opened an investigation into the accident, which took place as Schumacher was out skiing with his teenage son. Former British Formula One driver David Coulthard said he believed Schumacher had not won the full recognition he merited for taking his sport to new heights. “I only hope Michael Schumacher pulls through so that he can see all the nice things people are saying about him,” he wrote in the Daily Telegraph newspaper. — Reuters
