The helicopter pilot who was on the rescue mission following Michael Schumacher’s skiing accident has spoken out for the first time in 12 years.
Emergency rescue helicopter pilot Yannick Dainese revealed details about the day he flew to the French Alps to rescue a skier, only to find out it was the Formula 1 legend.
Dainese recalled how his team had received an urgent call to fly to the Méribel Alpina resort four days after Christmas in 2013 to help a seriously injured skier.
The pilot had no idea who the injured person was, it was only when they stepped onto the snow that realised who they were rescuing.
“A rescuer jumped out of the helicopter with the doctor and said to me ‘we’re going to Schumacher!’ he told French publication Le Quipe.
“At first I thought he was joking.
“But when the commander ordered us to remove our microphones and GoPros, and to forbid journalists from accompanying us, I understood that it was true.”
He recalled the immense pressure he was under.
“Subconsciously, the pressure was there because I knew he was worshipped like a god,” the pilot said.
“But for me, he was just another seriously injured person.”
The area was closed off as emergency crews treated Schumacher and prepared him for the flight. He was strapped into a vacuum mattress for the 25-minute trip to Grenoble hospital.
“Everyone retreats into their own bubble,” Dainese said.
“Gravity was in the air, barely a word was spoken during the flight.”
The pilot shared how the community came together in the days after the accident.
“A few days after the accident, I went back to the hospital to transport another injured person.
“What I saw shocked me: there were so many buses, red flags, and people everywhere that the hospital grounds had been transformed into a Formula 1 circuit. It was unbelievable.”
Schumacher was placed in an induced coma after he hit his head on a rock that was buried in the snow during his ski trip. Since the accident, details of his condition have been kept private.
Dainese said he had not spoken about the rescue mission before out of respect for Schumacher’s family.
Image: Christopher Waters / Shutterstock.com
