Michael Schumacher: nine years on from his skiing accident

It has been nine years since the news came through that Michael Schumacher was injured while skiing in Meribel, France.

The seven-time World Champion had not long been retired from Formula 1, having left at the end of 2012 following a three-year comeback stint with Mercedes.

On 29 December 29 in 2013, fans of Schumacher – as well as the wider F1 and motorsport community – held their breath for news on his condition.

Schumacher, an experienced skiier, fell and hit his head on a rock. Despite wearing a helmet, he sustained a serious head injury and had to be taken to hospital in Grenoble. There he was operated on and placed in a medically induced coma to help reduce swelling in his brain.

By the summer of 2014, it was announced that Schumacher was no longer in a coma, and had been transferred to the university hospital in Lausanne, Switzerland.

In September of the same year, Schumacher returned to his family home to continue his treatment.

'Everybody misses Michael, but Michael is here'

Schumacher's wife Corinna, as well as their children Mick and Gina, chose to publicly speak about the skiing accident for the first time in the 2021 Netflix documentary film, Schumacher.

"Of course, I miss Michael every day," Corinna said. "But it's not just me who misses him: the children, the family, his father, everyone around him.

"Everybody misses Michael, but Michael is here. [It's] different, but he's here, and that gives us strength, I find."

Corinna also spoke about the treatment that Schumacher continues to receive at home.

"We do therapy, we do everything we can to make Michael better, and to make sure he's comfortable, and to simply make him feel our family, our bond. And no matter what, I will do everything I can. We all will.

"We're trying to carry on as a family the way Michael liked it and still does and we are getting on with our lives. 'Private is private', he always said.

"It's very important to me that he can continue to enjoy his private life as much as possible, Michael always protected us, now we are protecting Michael."

#KeepFightingMichael

Even though there has been little information revealed about his condition in the last nine years, Schumacher's fighting mentality has still been praised.

The #KeepFightingMichael hashtag was used in the aftermath of the accident, which symbolises the approach taken by one of the all-time F1 greats: "I've always believed that you should never, ever give up and you should always keep fighting even when there's only a slightest chance."

The hashtag led to the 'Keep Fighting Foundation' being founded in his name, which continues the charitable work done by Schumacher.

His legacy in F1 is not forgotten, with his record of seven titles yet to be broken, having only recently being equalled by Lewis Hamilton in 2020.

#KeepFightingMichael