“He is conscious”: Turning point in Michael Schumacher's sad plight
Formula One star Michael Schumacher is said to be “conscious” after undergoing stem-cell treatment in Paris, France, a French newspaper has reported.
The Le Parisien revealed earlier this week the seven-time world champion had been admitted to Georges-Pompidou hospital for a complex treatment involving the transfusions of inflammation-reducing stem cells.
The cardiac surgeon who carried out the complex operation, Professor Philippe Menasche is also the same doctor who performed the world’s first embryonic cell transplant on a patient with heart failure in just 2014.
“He is in my area. And I can assure you that he is conscious,” a source told the French newspaper.
The 50-year-old German was left with severe brain damage in 2013 after suffering an accident while skiing.
The Formula One legend has since been recovering at his family home in Lausanne and while his family has kept his condition as private as possible, new details have come to light about the trip to Paris.
An Italian newspaper La Repubblica quoted biology professor Angelo Vescovi who claimed to have been “contacted by a person who knew Schumacher’s family”.
“They asked if something could be done (for Schumacher). At that time, we had made an attempt to inject the same cells we use for multiple sclerosis into the brain of a boy in a coma with quite good results,” he said.
“At the moment, we can only make assumptions about what they are doing in Paris.”
The Le Parisien reports the Ferrari and Mercedes driver has an estimate of 10 security guards watching over him at the hospital.
The family said on the star’s 50th birthday that they were “doing everything humanly possible" and “that he is in the very best of hands”.
The manager of Schumacher, Nick Fry, spoke about his accident in his new book Survive. Drive. Win. where he wrote: “Corinna (Schumacher’s wife) and the family have kept a very tight control on information about his condition and his treatment which, I think, is a pity.
“There are millions of people out there who have a genuine affection for Michael, and that’s not just his fans in Germany or fans of Mercedes Benz.
“He has sustained an injury while skiing, which unfortunately happens to ordinary people every year. Families of those in recovery generally react better if they know other people are in the same boat.
“I am sure that techniques and therapies have been developed and tried (with Schumacher) over the last few years that may well help others.
“It would be helpful for his family to share how they have dealt with this challenge.”