Retired Formula One legend Michael Schumacher is in a “critical condition” after sustaining a severe head injury while skiing off-piste in the French Alps resort of Meribel, medical officials said late on Sunday.
Michael Schumacher, the retired seven-time Formula One champion, is in a coma and remains in a "critical" condition after striking his head in a skiing accident in the French Alps on Sunday, the hospital treating him said.
The seven-time Formula One champion "was suffering a serious brain trauma with coma on his arrival, which required an immediate neurosurgical operation," the hospital treating him said in a statement. A specialist neurosurgeon from Paris has been brought in to oversee his treatment.
The 44-year-old German was airlifted to the hospital in the south-eastern French city of Grenoble after falling and hitting his head against a rock around 11 am on Sunday. Schumacher was wearing a helmet and was conscious after the accident, according to the Meribel ski resort director, Christophe Gernigon-Lecomte.
Schumacher, whose birthday is on January 3, is the most successful Formula One driver of all time with a record 91 victories among his achievements. He won his titles with Benetton and Ferrari.
He left the sport last year after a three-year comeback with Mercedes following an earlier retirement from Ferrari at the end of 2006. The German lives in Switzerland with his wife and two children.
