Michael Schumacher's nephew David suffers spinal injuries after car bursts into flames at DMT event
HOCKENHEIMRING, GERMANY: The nephew of Michael Schumacher has been seriously injured following a horrific fireball accident. David Schumacher reportedly broke his spine during the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) event at Hockenheimring on Saturday, October 8.
It has been said that the 20-year-old and another racing driver, Thomas Preining, struck each other during the race. The Sun reported that “both cars careered off the track at turn eight before Dennis Olsen and Rolf Ineichen also hit the barriers and Olsen's car briefly burst into flames.” After the crash, David along with others was checked by medical personnel before he was given a clearance.
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However, after going home, David reportedly complained of facing issues in his back. His father Ralf Schumacher said, “When David came home, he was still complaining about back pain. We then decided to go to a hospital in Salzburg to have an MRI done. It turned out that a lumbar vertebra was broken. According to the treating physicians, this means a break of around six weeks for David.” But the good news is that the cousin of current Formula One driver Mick Schumacher does not require surgery for his injury.
Meanwhile, Preining accused David for the mishap. But the young man’s actress mother Cora hit back at him by apparently saying, “David Schumacher is doing well, that's the most important thing. Nevertheless, I have to say that I absolutely don't think it's okay for Thomas Preining to make negative comments about our son every time without any self-reflection. He himself had oversteered and did not have his car under control. It's always easier to look for faults in others.”
David’s uncle Michael has not been seen publicly for several years after suffering critical head injury in 2013 in the French Alps. After the accident during skiing, he faced two surgeries in Grenoble before being “placed in a medically induced coma for six months to help reduce the swelling of his brain. Michael was eventually moved to another hospital in Lausanne, Switzerland, after coming out of his coma in 2014 and after 250 days was allowed to return to his Lake Geneva home,” The Mirror reported.
As per reports, he lives with wife Corinna, who along with a team of medical professionals, takes care of him. Corinna reportedly said in Netflix’s ‘Schumacher’, “We're together, we live together at home. We do therapy, we do everything we can to make Michael better and ensure he is comfortable, and to simply make him feel our family, our bond. And no matter what, I will do everything I can. We all will.”
She also added, “Of course I miss Michael every day. But it’s not just me who misses him. The children, the family, his father, everyone around him. I mean, everybody misses Michael, but Michael is still here. Different, but he’s here, and that gives us strength, I find.”
In 2020, FIA's president, Jean Todt, had apparently said, “I've spent a lot of time with Corinna since Michael had his serious skiing accident. She is a great woman and runs the family. She hadn't expected that. It happened suddenly and she had no choice. But she does it very well. I trust her, she trusts me. Thanks to the work of his doctors and the cooperation of Corinna, who wanted him to survive, he survived - but with consequences.”