Grand Prix Rejects

With the lack of any reliable information and the silence from the official sources, I've had to consider how good the unofficial sources are. If it's from Bild then I'm more dismissive. L'Equipe seems to be more on the ball and their last update was more postive - and then verified by Kehm.

Hartstein is right that the communication should be reviewed. If leaks are upsetting the family, then there needs to be more regular and informative communication from Kehm.

Assuming for a moment that Bild are right then this is very worrying, especially as they are also reporting pneumonia. I am telling myself that if his injuries are that severe then it might be better for him to die with dignity than live in a state that I am certain he would not consent to if he were able. But that is still impossible to comprehend. He has decades to live yet, surely?

LellaLombardi wrote:With the lack of any reliable information and the silence from the official sources, I've had to consider how good the unofficial sources are. If it's from Bild then I'm more dismissive. L'Equipe seems to be more on the ball and their last update was more postive - and then verified by Kehm.

Hartstein is right that the communication should be reviewed. If leaks are upsetting the family, then there needs to be more regular and informative communication from Kehm.

Assuming for a moment that Bild are right then this is very worrying, especially as they are also reporting pneumonia. I am telling myself that if his injuries are that severe then it might be better for him to die with dignity than live in a state that I am certain he would not consent to if he were able. But that is still impossible to comprehend. He has decades to live yet, surely?

German RTL also jumped the pneumonia bandwagon this very evening, without citing their sources at all. I know that RTL likes to "steal" their news from BILD and therefore I wouldn't worry too much, if I were you. BILD is not the most reliable source we have here in Germany (and that might be the understatement of the century). Of course, it is possible, that Schumi might have caught pneumonia. This can happen, when your immune system is as weak as Schumi's right now. But as long as Sabine Kehm or one of the doctors in Grenoble isn't verifying that he really has pneumonia, I don't believe BILD or RTL for a second.

One thing I found a bit worrying is that previously rumours have been immediately strongly denied, like the one that he'd died, but this time Kehm didn't deny it, just refused to comment.

Exactly. You'd assume if he didn't have pneumonia, they'd just say "No, don't listen to rumours" and leave it at that.

The pneumonia rumor is disturbing to me.
My grandfather actually passed away due to pneumonia on January 17, 2009. It was incredible, he caught it and died only mere days later.
And he had survived cancer!
True, he was almost in his mid 80s and not very fit anymore. He didn't move around much before the pneumonia, he lived a very still life after turning 70+.
But he was tall as a house in his prime, with hands as big as oven mittens and competed in motorcycle endurance races. He was very fragile in the end.
So yes, Schumacher is a lot younger and a lot fitter than my grandfather was, but he has still layed in that hospital bed now for 50 days!
I imagine his muscles must be gone by now, and that is why I do not like to see the word pneumonia.

Jocke1 wrote:The pneumonia rumor is disturbing to me.
My grandfather actually passed away due to pneumonia on January 17, 2009. It was incredible, he caught it and died only mere days later.
And he had survived cancer!
True, he was almost in his mid 80s and not very fit anymore. He didn't move around much before the pneumonia, he lived a very still life after turning 70+.
But he was tall as a house in his prime, with hands as big as oven mittens and competed in motorcycle endurance races. He was very fragile in the end.
So yes, Schumacher is a lot younger and a lot fitter than my grandfather was, but he has still layed in that hospital bed now for 50 days!
I imagine his muscles must be gone by now, and that is why I do not like to see the word pneumonia.

It sounds like Bild have done some backtracking though. It seems that he did have pneumonia but this was a while ago, before the wake up phase even started, and he's over it now.

The family sound quite positive in the latest press release. Either they are outright lying, or there is some positive progress we haven't heard about yet.

LellaLombardi wrote:It sounds like Bild have done some backtracking though. It seems that he did have pneumonia but this was a while ago, before the wake up phase even started, and he's over it now.

The family sound quite positive in the latest press release. Either they are outright lying, or there is some positive progress we haven't heard about yet.

I guess, they simply had enough of constantly dementing all those strange news that were floating around for a while. If they had commented on every newspaper article, they would have had to stand in front of cameras and microphones 24/7. You really don't want that, when your husband/father/good friend is in a coma. And Sabine Kehm recently stated on German TV, that it's not her job to be constantly in touch with the press. She and the doctors had stated from the very beginning, they would only release important news when necessary. But we all know the rainbow press. They simply can't live without a new headline every day. It was just a matter of time, when they'd start making stuff up or bend the facts if they must.

But I really really hope, the good news are true. Schumi has survived so many horrible crashes in F1. He simply does not deserve to pass away because of a skiing accident!

It's tricky, nature abhors a vacuum and people will always create rumours in the absence of news... But on the other hand you can't expect his management to give constant updates every minute of every day.

I suppose all we can do is continue to wait for what official statements are made, and hope for the best.

Reports this morning (unofficial) that he is breathing unaided.

I think, with gathering bits of news here and there, that this must be true. Gary Hartstein said a few weeks ago that if the brain stem was too damaged to wean him off the ventilator then discussions would be taking place about withdrawing support. I think if this was the case then he would probably have passed by now, and we'd know about that.

The "waking up phase" that Kehm refers to is very time consuming and all we can do is wait and see how he progressions and how much brain function he regains.

Keeping everything crossed.

LellaLombardi wrote:Reports this morning (unofficial) that he is breathing unaided.

I think, with gathering bits of news here and there, that this must be true. Gary Hartstein said a few weeks ago that if the brain stem was too damaged to wean him off the ventilator then discussions would be taking place about withdrawing support. I think if this was the case then he would probably have passed by now, and we'd know about that.

Where did you read this Lella? I've been reading through the reports of the official announcements today, and that wasn't mentioned, although they did dismiss that there were complications that we hadn't heard about which at least is good news.

Eifelland wrote:

LellaLombardi wrote:Reports this morning (unofficial) that he is breathing unaided.

I think, with gathering bits of news here and there, that this must be true. Gary Hartstein said a few weeks ago that if the brain stem was too damaged to wean him off the ventilator then discussions would be taking place about withdrawing support. I think if this was the case then he would probably have passed by now, and we'd know about that.

Where did you read this Lella? I've been reading through the reports of the official announcements today, and that wasn't mentioned, although they did dismiss that there were complications that we hadn't heard about which at least is good news.

Gazetto Dello Sport via Twitter. Not the most fantastic of sources but with how little we have to go on, coupled with Hartstein's last blog, I think we can deduce that it is true.

This is certainly very encouraging news right here. I just hope now that Michael doesn't have any permanent damage. Best wishes once again.

More news, or not news however you want to look at it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/03 ... _hp_ref=uk

Knowing that it had been over a month now since they were going to start the "waking-up" phase, I was starting to get concerned as to what was going on. But this is somehow reassuring that things are not beyond hope yet?

dr-baker wrote:But this is somehow reassuring that things are not beyond hope yet?

Depends on what we're hoping for I guess. For a time back in January I thought he'd be more or less OK but its now March and while it looks hopeful for his life Ive yet to read anything to suggest he's going to to be anything like he was when he comes back to his family. Life can be pretty awful sometimes, no matter who you are.

I have known deep down from a couple of weeks in that a full recovery was unlikely. You simply don't hit your head that hard and have two operations, and go back to how you were before.

I think now if he can go back to enjoying being a father then that will be considered a success.

Recently, I've been thinking about the worse case scenario - which is Schumacher passing away, and I realised that if that happened, there would be a horrible irony involved. That would be Schumacher passing away from head injuries 20 years after Senna did at Imola, and with the 20th anniversary of that awful weekend less than 2 months away now.

It's good then, that these latest developments seem to cast a glimmer of hope on the situation.

I suppose what I meant was, he'll survive, and, should he come out of the coma, he'll have the chance to interact with others again, in whatever form that may take. Hopefully, God-willing, etc.

Gary Hartstein again. Quite gloomy reading. & he points out that we really know nothing more than we did in previous days.

http://formerf1doc.wordpress.com/2014/0 ... a-miracle/

At last, some positive news from an offical source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26541565

I am assuming here that the Schumachers understand the difference between reflex reactions and controlled reactions from someone who is in a coma.

So this would suggest that he is now in a natural coma and (I hope) breathing unaided. Now we wait.

For sure he is breathing unaided, there would be no hope whatsoever if it wasn't so by now. The fact that they admit that Michael is severely injured while they don't affirm that he's able to properly interact with the environment to some degree (like following an object with his eyes, for example) smells very bad, though.

Can F1 drivers just stay off the slopes please?: http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/148323.html

watka wrote:Can F1 drivers just stay off the slopes please?: http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/148323.html

I read that earlier in the week, the clumsy twonk. Sad to say it probably wouldnt have been news were it not for MSCs accident.

The season hasn't started yet and already Hamilton's put his foot in his mouth:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motors ... acter.html

I did chortle at the comment which said "Even in a coma, Michael Schumacher's brain functions better than Lewis Hamilton's"

The Telegraph wrote:skiiing accident

That is all.

www.nydailynews.com/sports/more-sports/ ... -1.1729557

Well, not sure the source is too reliable (it is American after all), but this is the only thing I've heard in a while.

Well it's plausible, anyone in a coma for this long would lose a lot of weight.

I was chatting to someone today who spent 12 months in a coma. She had some speech and mobility issues but still had a very good quality of life. That gives me some hope.

Bring this post to the attention to the Aussie overlord I found in a pub in the Smoke, if you will. The first topic of conversation we had - before the podcast recording - was about Michael Schumacher's potential for recovery.

Unfortunately, I could only think of one reasonably lengthy coma victim - the relentlessly unpleasant Seth Putnam, whose history of extreme drug abuse finally caught up with him after a massive overdose in 2004. He spent two months in a coma, and Terrorizer described it as an absolute tragedy when he woke up. If anyone's wondering how much damage was done, watch this interview from 2010. ACHTUNG: all links to anything Seth Putnam was involved in contain more extremely naughty words than Juan Pablo Montoya's radio messages - and a lot of subjects best not discussed anywhere, any time. You have been warned!

Leaving him aside for a mo, I've now been reminded - not that I should have needed reminding - of Ken Owen. He was the drummer in Carcass, during their original run from some time in the mid-80s to 1995. Here's what he was capable of in the band's heyday.

In 1999, seemingly for no reason whatsoever, he had a massive brain haemorrhage. It put him in a coma for ten months. When he finally woke up, he found he had to learn to walk and talk again, from scratch.

After many years of cajoling, Carcass reformed in 2008 and were immediately announced for some major festivals, with Daniel Erlandsson installed behind the kit. I was there at Wacken that year - and, in the middle of the set, without any hint that it would happen, Ken turned up and played a drum solo. So it wasn't anywhere near as fast as he used to be able to do in the glory days; it was rather basic, all things considered. But this was a man who had woken up to find he couldn't move or talk, had been through years of painstaking recovery, and had recovered enough movement to be able to drum again. So he dropped a few beats; nobody cared! No word of a lie, grown men were in floods of tears at this performance, because we all knew what a stunning recovery this had been, and that there'd been not even the slightest hint he'd even be there to show us only added to the shock. You can see at the end of the video he had to be helped off the drum stool; he did come shuffling to the front of the stage to talk to us, in a rather slurred voice, to say thanks for all our support over those years and could we welcome Daniel Erlandsson as the new drummer.

Likely as not, Ken Owen can never be the same again as he was before the haemorrhage. But, that day, we were shown how far he had progressed, from potentially being condemned to life as a vegetable.

At some stage, we would all hope, Michael Schumacher will wake up. He may not be able to walk. He may not be able to talk. If he can't do either, he'll have the same uphill climb as Ken did. And there, laid bare for you, is how far up the hill he could climb. Maybe even further, given that he has millions of euros in the bank to buy the most advanced treatment possible.

And for the record, Ken Owen is a better drummer now than I could ever hope to be.

Thank you for a very insightful post Diniz. Had no idea who Ken Owen was, but that video of him after his recovery was just heart-warming.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/03/26/michael-schumacher-accident_n_5033435.html?utm_hp_ref=uk

Gary Harstein painting a pretty grim picture. I believe it is now time to prepare for bad news.

CoopsII wrote:http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/03/26/michael-schumacher-accident_n_5033435.html?utm_hp_ref=uk

Gary Harstein painting a pretty grim picture. I believe it is now time to prepare for bad news.

My dad's a GP, and I know that if I were to show him this, he would emphasise that this is still just (educated) speculation. Not that I doubt it, but it is not a first-hand account, as far as I am aware. I am still just hoping, praying and waiting for news from the hospital staff, which will only happen when there is actual news.

dr-baker wrote:

CoopsII wrote:http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/03/26/michael-schumacher-accident_n_5033435.html?utm_hp_ref=uk

Gary Harstein painting a pretty grim picture. I believe it is now time to prepare for bad news.

My dad's a GP, and I know that if I were to show him this, he would emphasise that this is still just (educated) speculation. Not that I doubt it, but it is not a first-hand account, as far as I am aware. I am still just hoping, praying and waiting for news from the hospital staff, which will only happen when there is actual news.

Where there's life there's hope

I still believe that and Id love to be proved wrong but come on....

I know. It's been well over a month since they started the "waking up" process, and he's still in a coma. It's been much, much longer than Wendlinger's coma. Whatever happens, he won't be the same guy he was before...

go_Rubens wrote:http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more-sports/comatose-f1-driver-schumacher-losing-muscles-article-1.1729557

Well, not sure the source is too reliable (it is American after all), but this is the only thing I've heard in a while.

New York area resident here. This is a terrible source. They're in a neck-and-neck race with The New York Post for worst publication in NYC. Basically The Daily Mail, but obsessed with the Yankees.

How do the main US papers rank in terms of reliability/reputation? I never thought of the US as having any sort of equivalent to The Sun or The Mirror, but am I wrong? The only US paper I've read is USA Today.

watka wrote:How do the main US papers rank in terms of reliability/reputation? I never thought of the US as having any sort of equivalent to The Sun or The Mirror, but am I wrong? The only US paper I've read is USA Today.

Most of them suck for good worthy news about worldwide stuff and cover too many political happenings. This is why I use BBC and credible British sources (mostly). Like, never EVER trust or follow Fox News. All they do is take a tiny story and blow it up where it shouldn't be. CNN is good, but it has the same problem with most American sources, they're focused too much on politics and should focus on other subjects a little bit more. That's about the best nationwide news source Americans get IMO.

go_Rubens wrote:

watka wrote:How do the main US papers rank in terms of reliability/reputation? I never thought of the US as having any sort of equivalent to The Sun or The Mirror, but am I wrong? The only US paper I've read is USA Today.

Most of them suck for good worthy news about worldwide stuff and cover too many political happenings. This is why I use BBC and credible British sources (mostly). Like, never EVER trust or follow Fox News or MSNBC All they do is take a tiny story and blow it up where it shouldn't be. CNN is good, but it has the same problem with most American sources, they're focused too much on politics and should focus on other subjects a little bit more. That's about the best nationwide news source Americans get IMO.

Fixed.

Wallio wrote:

go_Rubens wrote:

watka wrote:How do the main US papers rank in terms of reliability/reputation? I never thought of the US as having any sort of equivalent to The Sun or The Mirror, but am I wrong? The only US paper I've read is USA Today.

Most of them suck for good worthy news about worldwide stuff and cover too many political happenings. This is why I use BBC and credible British sources (mostly). Like, never EVER trust or follow Fox News or MSNBC All they do is take a tiny story and blow it up where it shouldn't be. CNN is good, but it has the same problem with most American sources, they're focused too much on politics and should focus on other subjects a little bit more. That's about the best nationwide news source Americans get IMO.

Fixed.

Since I also have a strong disdain for MSNBC as well, I'll let that slide

go_Rubens wrote:
Since I also have a strong disdain for MSNBC as well, I'll let that slide

It's just a pet peeve of mine. People always bash Fox (understandably) but MSNBC is just as bad.

Wallio wrote:

go_Rubens wrote:
Since I also have a strong disdain for MSNBC as well, I'll let that slide

It's just a pet peeve of mine. People always bash Fox (understandably) but MSNBC is just as bad.

I remember the controversial events surrounding a Fox News reporter around Christmas time (if you want to look into the details, go ahead, but I won't let it out here) that really didn't deserve a nationwide news story and made Fox look like a bunch of incompetent fools. I'll never watch Fox News again.