A CLOSE friend of Michael Schumacher’s has revealed the devastating impact his skiing accident had on those around him.
Former F1 ace – Johnny Herbert – said “there has been a huge void left” from the tragic crash that left the legendary driver fighting for his life and needing 24-hour care for the last ten years.
Johnny – who raced against Michael for many years – spoke to Grosvenor Sport about how the accident had a massive knock on effect for the Schumacher family.
The British driver said: “They are trying to carry on as a family as Michael would have wanted. They are getting on with their lives but private does mean private.”
Michael’s wife Corinna has worked hard to keep her husband’s health status a secret and keep his privacy intact.
Over the last decade details of Schuey’s health has been hidden from fans as he’s stayed completely out of the spotlight and not been seen or heard from once.
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Corinna has even formed an inner circle of people she feels can be trusted seeing the German icon – including banning others from knowing about Michael’s current state.
Mick – Corinna and Michael’s son – has also been through an incredibly tough few years after the accident, according to Johnny.
He continued: “Mick has said he could always talk to Michael about racing before the accident. That is one of the saddest things for any sportsman.
“It would have been a very important part of his development at that time. But Mick never had that unfortunately. He just had that relationship up until the skiing accident.
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Mick was alongside his father on the day of the crash that left him in a coma for 250 days and needing multiple serious brain surgeries.
He also reflected on how the star’s crash had affected Michael’s racing driver sibling Ralf.
“Ralf has had to do a lot of things for and with the family given what happened to Michael,” Herbert said.
“He has matured. He is very different now to the person he was as a driver.
“He is a good human being now. He has changed a lot having had to cope with the ongoing situation with his brother.”
Johnny Herbert went on to note that despite having hours of amazing and positive footage from the Michael’s past in F1, it all just remains a memory.
“It would be lovely just to have Michael back now,” Johnny went on to say.
“There has been a huge void left since Schumacher’s crash. When the accident happened it was a big shock for everybody.
One of these groups affected massively was the current group of drivers – many of which had either raced against Michael or grown up with him as their idol.
The seven time world champion dominated Motorsport in a decade of dominance between 1994 and 2004 and was known for his grit and will to win.
Johnny said: “He was massively respected by the flock of current drivers at the time (of his accident), but actually probably by nearly all the drivers today.
“If you ask them who was the driver they looked up to and watched when you were growing up, they would say Michael.
“Michael was the one who drove them to achieve their dream of getting into Formula 1.”
Johnny has also previously reveal that Schumacher was “not close” to his former self following the ski crash.
He felt saddened by the fact there was never any positive news about his pal and called the situation “horrible to still not able to be close to the Michael that we all remember.”
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After knowing Schumacher for several years when they were both elite sportsmen the pair used to get smashed and rip up pals’ clothes off at wild post-race parties.
The ex Sky Sports pundit came clean about their crazy times but admits they would never get away with it now.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
