Details on legendary Formula One driver Michael Schumacher have leaked out on his recovery progress, which appears to be "painfully slow" and increasingly expensive, costing millions in medical care.
According to Allan Hall of Daily Express, the 46-year-old superstar of F1 racing is receiving care at his mansion home, located on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland. While his family imposed a total media blackout as he recovers, an insider shared some information about him.
"Progress is painfully slow," an insider told Daily Express. "There is no miracle on the horizon."
The insider added that Schumacher remains mute with "limited awareness" of his environment. The driver hasn't recovered his ability to walk either, according to Hall.
Hall reported that Schumacher's medical costs have soared to over £10 million ($15.5 million). Professor Jean-Francois Payen, who operated on Schumacher's blood clots after a ski accident that left him critically injured back in 2013, is caring for the race car driver around the clock through a 15-person medical team.
Shiva Mehrani of Master Herald reported that "only a miracle can save Schumacher at this point," noting the fact that the recovery process has been lacking of major improvements. However, Schumacher's surgeon has still kept in touch with the F1 driver's family.
"Even though the Professor's schedule prevents him from dedicating his full time and attention to Schumacher's treatment, he still keeps in touch with the family on a regular basis, and he is constantly updated on the racer's situation wherever he is around the world," Mehrani wrote.
According to Hall, Payen has tried to help manage the expectations of Schumacher's family, which include his wife, Corinna, and their two children, 15-year-old Mick and 17-year-old Gina-Maria. The professor did express admiration on how Schumacher's wife is handling the situation.
"She has displayed in every way an exceptional willpower. She knew the seriousness of the situation and the long road that lay before them," Payen said of Corinna. "She looks at things very clearly and makes every effort, and gives everything, which can help to improve the condition of her husband."
Neurological and spinal surgeon Peter Hamlyn, an expert in the field of head injuries in sport, elaborated to Daily Express on how Schumacher's recovery may take "years" to pull off.
"The first months are dominated by questions of survival. Gradually as the weeks and months go by those questions of survival turn into questions of the quality of survival," Hamlyn said. "It's a rollercoaster and if Michael Schumacher's rollercoaster takes him and his family somewhere happy then they will have been to places that will have been pretty unhappy on the way there."
Hamlyn added that Schumacher's family has "been buoyed by all the support that has been voiced."
Other F1 drivers paid tribute in support of Schumacher. According to Daily Express, current F1 champ Lewis Hamilton wrote a letter to him.
"Dear Michael, You are always in my prayers," Hamilton wrote. "Prayers of hope that you pull through this difficult time."
Hall reported that Jenson Button remembered two things about his legendary F1 rival.
"The first is one of my earliest memories of being in Formula 1 driving out of the pit lane in Melbourne and seeing Michael's red Ferrari ahead of me scattering the leaves as he drove beneath the trees at the approach to turn three," Button said. "The second thing I think about is that familiar red car snaking about in my mirrors. Michael was such a formidable racer... relentlessly competitive. Always there for him."
Hall reported that Schumacher suffered from traumatic brain injury after skiing off-piste with his son in the French Alps; he was wearing a helmet when the accident happened. While the seven-time World Championship woke up from a medically-induced coma six months later, the family's media blackout has made details of his condition limited.
