Michael Schumacher indicators F1 helmet with assist of his spouse, Corinna, in uncommon public act
Michael Schumacher made an emotional public gesture with the help of his wife Corinna.
The F1 legend suffered serious head injuries during a skiing accident in December 2013. He has not been seen publicly since and is believed to receive around the clock care from his close family and a select number of medical professionals.
But the stricken seven-time world champ was able to sign an F1 helmet with Corinna’s help for fellow F1 icon Sir Jackie Stewart. The helmet will be auctioned to raise money for Stewart’s charity Race Against Dementia.
“It is wonderful that Michael could sign the helmet in this worthy cause – a disease for which there is no cure,” Stewart told The Daily Mail. “His wife helped him, and it completed the set of every single champion still with us.”
Stewart’s white helmet has his trademark Royal Stewart tartan and was revealed at Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix. The 85-year-old also took to the track in his 1973 championship-winning Tyrell for an exhibition lap. Stewart founded Race Against Dementia after his wife Lady Helen was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2014.
In an emotional interview with the BBC, Stewart admitted that Lady Stewart recently failed to recognise him for the first time.
“Just the other day it was time for dinner, she’s getting up and I’m sitting close by, and she says, ‘Where’s Jackie?’ That’s the first time that’s happened and that’s only a few weeks ago,” he said. “A bad feeling came over me.”
Stewart’s helmet has now been signed by every living F1 world champion and will be auctioned to fund a groundbreaking new blood test developed by Cambridge University.
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It’s hoped the test could detect early signs of dementia before symptoms appear.
Schumacher’s gesture comes during his long absence from the public eye. Very little information has been released on the German’s condition.
The 56-year-old lives at a £50million custom built property on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland. He was placed in a medically-induced coma after suffering life-threatening head injuries.
