14 DAY TRIAL // In an effort to keep Michael Schumacher's current health condition a secret, his family and the doctors treating him went to extreme lengths to block the news from hitting the media until they were ready. With people constantly hanging out in front of the hospital in Grenoble, where the driver was undergoing treatment, this was not an easy task.
The Daily Mail reports that Michael was taken from the French hospital to a Swiss facility on an ambulance but everything was done in secret. Not even the people working on the ambulance knew the identity of the passenger until the very last minute.
They were asked to give up their phones to prevent photos of the driver being taken in his current condition. Although previous reports indicated that Michael was able to talk, we now find out that he still isn't able to do that.
On the 120 mile (200 km) ride to Switzerland, it is confirmed that he was conscious and that he was able to communicate with medical staff by nodding his head. The people who handled him en route to Switzerland confirmed that the former F1 champion lost a lot of weight during his 170 days in hospital.
The hospital where he was transferred to is considered to be one of the best the country has to offer and has renowned neurology experts working there. Coincidentally, the facility is located a couple of miles from Lausane, where Schumacher's family lives.
Here, Schumacher is said to be undertaking a long and arduous recovery process to restore his body and brain to their former abilities. His spokesperson, Sabine Kehm, has asked the public for understanding that “his further rehabilitation will take place away from the public eye.”
The former F1 champion emerged from his coma earlier this week, after spending several months unconscious, following a skiing accident that took place in the French Alps over the winter. Schumacher, an accomplished skier, inexplicably fell and hit his head on a rock, leaving him with substantial brain damage and swelling.
Doctors agreed that if the driver had not been wearing a helmet, he would have certainly died from his injuries. As such, he was kept in an artificial coma until doctors were confident he was well enough to recover.
During the 170 days he was under, conflicting reports emerged in press. The fact that his progress was kept a secret for months led media outlets to speculate. Most of their reports had somber outcomes for Schumacher, quoting specialist opinions that he wasn't ever going to recover and was to be kept in a vegetative state for the rest of his life.