Staggering reports have emerged that much-loved Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher is no longer bedridden.
Clear facts about the 57-year-old’s condition are hard to come by with Schumacher’s wife Corinna only allowing a small inner-sanctum to have contact with the former motorsport superstar.
In fact, Schumacher has not been seen in public since the devastating 2013 skiing accident in the French Alps that left him with serious injuries and requiring around-the-clock treatment and assistance.
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However now, in the most positive update yet, sources are suggesting Schumacher is no longer confined to his bed and is often wheeled around in a wheelchair.
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 reportedly 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 meaningfully 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 2024 there was a rumour that Schumacher attended his daughter Gina’s wedding in Mallorca but it is thought that is not true.
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.
It has previously been reported that he can only communicate with his eyes.
In a 2021 documentary, Corinna gave a rare update, revealing Schumacher was still undergoing rehabilitation and is “different but here”.
Schumacher is one of the most successful F1 drivers of all time, winning world titles in 1994, 1995 and five consecutive years from 2000 to 2004.
He also racked up 71 fastest laps and 155 podiums during his racing career.
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