Schumacher accident places focus on skiing safety
News that Formula One racing driver Michael Schumacher suffered a serious head injury while skiing has put the issue of ski safety firmly back into the headlines. Schumaker was, according to reports, wearing a helmet when the accident occurred in an off-piste area. Sabine Kehm, Schumacher’s manager, explained: “Michael and the group had been skiing on normal slopes and then between a red slope and blue slope was a part with deep snow. Michael went into that, but after everything that people told me, it was not even at high speed.” It emerged in reports following the accident that the force of Schumacher’s crash was so great that his skiing helmet split into two parts. Ms Kehm said: “It seemed he had just helped a friend who had fallen and started to ski again, went into this deep snow and apparently – this is what we guess – hit a rock as he tried to do a turn and was catapulted in the air and landed head down on another rock. It was extreme bad luck and circumstances, and not because he was speeding too much. I have spoken with several people, including ski teachers, that tell me that can happen even at 10km/h. It was just very, very unfortunate.” The anaesthetist who treated Schumaker, Jean-Francois Payen, said that he might not have survived the fall at all had it not been for his helmet, adding: “Taking into consideration the very violent shock, his helmet did protect him to a certain extent, of course. Somebody who would have this kind of accident, without a helmet, certainly, he would not have got here.” Schumacher was flown from the accident scene in Meribel to hospital in Moutiers, where he underwent tests, but his injuries were severe enough that he was then transferred by helicopter to Grenoble Hospital. Christophe Gernigon-Lecomte, director of tourism in Meribel, said: “This accident is the proof that you can't do whatever you want. It’s necessary to stay on the pistes, even when weather conditions are good.”
News that Formula One racing driver Michael Schumacher suffered a serious head injury while skiing has put the issue of ski safety firmly back into the headlines. Schumaker was, according to reports, wearing a helmet when the accident occurred in an off-piste area. Sabine Kehm, Schumacher’s manager, explained: “Michael and the group had been skiing on normal slopes and then between a red slope and blue slope was a part with deep snow. Michael went into that, but after everything that people told me, it was not even at high speed.” It emerged in reports following the accident that the force of Schumacher’s crash was so great that his skiing helmet split into two parts. Ms Kehm said: “It seemed he had just helped a friend who had fallen and started to ski again, went into this deep snow and apparently – this is what we guess – hit a rock as he tried to do a turn and was catapulted in the air and landed head down on another rock. It was extreme bad luck and circumstances, and not because he was speeding too much. I have spoken with several people, including ski teachers, that tell me that can happen even at 10km/h. It was just very, very unfortunate.” The anaesthetist who treated Schumaker, Jean-Francois Payen, said that he might not have survived the fall at all had it not been for his helmet, adding: “Taking into consideration the very violent shock, his helmet did protect him to a certain extent, of course. Somebody who would have this kind of accident, without a helmet, certainly, he would not have got here.” Schumacher was flown from the accident scene in Meribel to hospital in Moutiers, where he underwent tests, but his injuries were severe enough that he was then transferred by helicopter to Grenoble Hospital.
Christophe Gernigon-Lecomte, director of tourism in Meribel, said: “This accident is the proof that you can't do whatever you want. It’s necessary to stay on the pistes, even when weather conditions are good.”