Formula One legend Michael Schumacher is reportedly faring better than previously thought, with sources saying he is no longer bedridden.
The former racing star has not been seen in public since he was badly injured during a horrific skiing accident while on holiday in the French Alps back in 2013.
In November, former Red Bull operations chief and longtime friend Richard Hopkins admitted that Schumacher was unlikely to be seen in public again.
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But sources have since revealed that the 57-year-old is no longer confined to his bed.
The Daily Mail reports that despite sustaining life-changing brain damage in the skiing accident, he can now sit up and is able to be wheeled around his $60 million mansion in Mallorca.
A team of nurses and therapists take turns wheeling him around in a medical regime estimated to cost around $20,000 per week.
Sadly, the news that the F1 icon is no longer bedridden is about as positive as the health update gets.
Schumacher is still unable to communicate with friends and family and his outlook is not expected to improve.
“You can’t be sure whether he understands everything because he cannot tell anyone,” a source close to the family said on the condition of anonymity.
“The feeling is that he understands some of the things going on around him, but probably not all of them.”
The Schumachers split their time between their Majorca home and their main base, a $100 million mansion in Gland, Switzerland, on the banks of Lake Geneva.
In 2023, the F1 star was reportedly seen by people outside his strict inner circle for the first time since his accident, when he attended his daughter Gina’s wedding in Mallorca.
The nuptials were held at the family’s luxury villa, purchased from Real Madrid chairman Florentino Perez in 2017, and strict security measures were in place.
Back in 2020, leading neurosurgeon Erich Riederer told The Independent that Schumacher may be in a “vegetative state” with little chance of full recovery.
