Michael Schumacher has not been seen in public since 2013 but his daughter Gina has shared a rare update on her famous father
Michael Schumacher’s daughter Gina admitted that her dad’s tragic skiing accident threw her life upside down in many ways. The 29-year-old claimed she “had to do something” to take her mind off of the horrifying incident and dedicated her life to equestrianism.
Schumacher has not been seen in public since his ski crash that left him in a coma for nearly six months following bleeding and bruising on the brain. The 57-year-old fractured his skull during a family holiday in Meribel and had two brain surgeries to save his life.
Since then, the seven-time Formula 1 world champion only allows a select number of people to see him and keeps his life private. Gina revealed on her upcoming documentary – Horsepower: The World of Gina Schumacher – that her dad’s accident affected her deeply.
She said: “After dad’s accident, I really threw myself into it because I had to do something. The horses have always been important. But since then they’ve really been… I mean, I couldn’t do without horses. They helped me get through everything.
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“She [my mother] used to have a horse, and when we were younger, she wanted to start again. But she wanted a safe horse. Then she was in Dubai with dad, and they rode Arabians. dad fell off one. There was a Quarter Horse next to it, and he was there to calm the others down. And then mum said she wanted a horse like that.”
Reflecting on her parents’ support in her career, Gina added: “I’m grateful that I can do this. Because it’s not something to take for granted. ‘My parents made it possible. That’s why it’s always been important to me to work hard in this area, so that I can do it as well as I possibly can.”
Schumacher’s wife Corinna revealed that the Formula 1 hero once told her that their daughter would excel past her in the equestrian world. She said: “Michael once said to me, when Gina was ten, ‘Gina will be much better than you.’
“He explained, ‘Because she’s more selfish. If you’re an athlete, you have to be selfish in a certain way. And that’s great. Otherwise, you won’t amount to anything.’ Today I think, he was so right.”
Schumacher still keeps out of the public eye with the Daily Mail reporting in January that he is no longer bedridden. The ex-F1 star lives in a £30million estate in Majorca with his family and a huge team of medical experts on hand to give him around-the-clock care.
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