Former motor racing world champion
Michael Schumacher is in a coma following a skiing accident in France.
The 44-year-old German suffered a "serious brain trauma
with coma on his arrival, which required an immediate neurosurgical
operation," according to the hospital treating Schumacher in the French
city of Grenoble.
Schumacher was wearing a helmet when he reportedly hit his head
on a rock while skiing in the French Alps. He was airlifted off the mountain following the accident in the
resort of Meribel, in the popular Three Valleys area.
The sports star was skiing with his 14-year-old son and some
friends when the accident occurred.
Schumacher's agent, Sabine Kehm, said: ''Michael fell on his
head during a private ski trip in the French Alps.
"He was hospitalised and is receiving medical care. We ask
for your understanding that we cannot give a running commentary on his state of
health.
"He was wearing a helmet and was not alone.''
Journalist Carole Bouchard, from the French newspaper L'Equipe,
told Sky News that the racing driver's condition had deteriorated during the
hours following his hospitalisation.
The French Mountain Gendarmerie had earlier said
Schumacher's life was not in danger.
Speaking to Sky News, Chris Chandler, a consultant neurosurgeon
at King's College Hospital, said the immediate neurosurgical treatment given to
Schumacher shows his injuries are severe.
"He could have suffered a diffuse injury to his brain which
can then result in brain swelling," he said.
"He could have sustained some sort of brain haemorrhage and
if there was a blood clot within his brain or on the surface of his brain
underneath his skull, that might need to be removed.
"Sometimes there is nothing actually to remove but you put
in an intra-cranial pressure monitor, which basically is an operation that
requires drilling a hole in the skull and putting a fine probe inside."
Former Ferrari team boss Jean Todt and Professor Gerard
Saillant, a brain and spine injury expert, are at
the Grenoble University Hospital Centre where Schumacher is being
treated.
Professor Saillant co-ordinated Schumacher's medical care
after the driver broke his leg in the 1999 British Grand Prix.
Schumacher, a seven-time world champion, first retired from
Formula One in 2006.
He has been hurt seriously once before, in a motorcycling
accident in February 2009 when he suffered neck and spine injuries.
Schumacher recovered sufficiently from those injuries to make a
comeback to Formula One in 2010.
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