Expert neurosurgeon sheds new light on ‘frail’ Michael Schumacher’s ‘public appearance’ at daughter’s wedding – after reports of first sighting in years

A top neurosurgeon has disputed reports that F1 legend Michael Schumacher made a rare public appearance to attend his daughter’s wedding.

Schumacher’s daughter Gina reportedly married her boyfriend Iain Bethke at the family’s £27 million luxury villa in Mallorca last month.

The couple said ‘yes’ under a floral arch in Villa Yasmin, the property that Corinna, the wife of seven-time F1 world champion Schumacher, is said to have bought from Real Madrid president Florentino Perez in 2017.

BILD has claimed that it is ‘highly likely’ that Michael was at his daughter’s wedding, despite being virtually missing from public life since his life-changing skiing incident in 2013.

Now, however, a leading neurosurgeon has come forward to dispute these claims, suggesting that ‘all indications are that he is not feeling well’.

Speak with IltalehtiJussi Posti – head of the department of neurosurgery and traumatic brain injury at Turku University Hospital in Finland – said: ‘If a hospital is built in his house, with everything around him medicalized, it seems that he spends most of the time has been in hospital. time’.

‘Based on the information available, I don’t think he leads a very active life. Everything indicates that he is not feeling well. As bedridden patients, most people become so weak and stiff that after so many years it is no longer possible to get them out of bed.”

Given the limited information that has emerged about Schumacher’s current health, Posti insists it is likely the F1 legend’s circumstances have not changed.

‘It suggests he has probably been in the same condition for ten years. “I doubt anything has suddenly changed at this stage,” he said.

‘Normally, patients recover what they can recover for up to two years, and then the level of recovery is usually determined. Essentially, these types of patients are highly experimental models at best.”

A statement released nearly a year after the accident told fans that he was no longer in a coma and was “continuing a long phase of rehabilitation,” but few details about his condition have been revealed since.

Spanish newspapers had reported in 2020 that Schumacher had moved from the couple’s Swiss home on a more permanent basis to the exclusive property on the chic Las Brisas estate near Andratx in southwestern Mallorca.

Rumors that Schumacher cannot speak were supported by his son Mick during a 2021 Netflix documentary about his father’s life. He said, “I think Dad and I would understand each other in a different way now.”

The effects of traumatic brain injury depend on a number of factors, including the type, location and severity of the injury, says brain injury charity Headway.

It adds that the symptoms of brain injury are wide-ranging, from physical effects such as balance problems, headaches and dizziness to cognitive, emotional and behavioral effects. These can include memory problems, fatigue and anger.

Posti continued: ‘There are several after-effects of brain damage. For example, the injury may make the patient unwilling to communicate with anyone other than his immediate family.

“It may also be that no one other than the patient’s immediate family can sufficiently stimulate him or her to communicate in a meaningful way.”

The last real update fans received was in 2023, when it was reported that Schumacher had been driving a Mercedes AMG sports car in an attempt to stimulate parts of his brain that he once used for racing.

Germany’s Bild recently reported that guests’ phones had been confiscated because the family did not want anyone to take unauthorized photos of the property’s private rooms.

Guests at the wedding are said to include Michael’s brother Ralf and his partner Etienne Bosquet-Cassagne, who have feuded with former ex-wife Cora over her claims she felt ‘stabbed in the heart’ after finding out he gay.

The villa has a landing site and he is regularly flown from the family home on Lake Geneva in Switzerland to the villa in Port d’Andratx.

It is part of a 15,000 square meter estate with two swimming pools, a helipad, a gym and a huge garden with palm trees.

According to the respected Mallorcan daily Ultima Hora, the ceremony lasted about half an hour.

The newspaper reported that a banquet and party with live music by a country music band took place at the villa in Port d’Andratx this evening.

Last month, a pair of suspects, Yilmaz T, 53, and his 30-year-old son from Wuppertal in Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia region, were charged after they were arrested for allegedly threatening to leak images of Schumacher taken after his near fatal ski experience. crash.

They allegedly told the Schumachers that they ‘didn’t want (the photos) published’ and ‘demanded millions’ to stop them from doing so.

The two men, who were arrested on June 19, handed over ‘individual files’ to the family to show they had access to documents about the F1 star – threats that investigators later deemed credible.