Michael Schumacher has held a pen in his hand to sign a helmet which is to be auctioned off to charity. With the help of his wife Corinna, the stricken Formula 1 legend has inscribed his initials ‘MS’ onto the white and tartan helmet.
The unique item will be shown off at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday. After that, it will be sold at auction to raise funds for the Race Against Dementia charity set up by three-time F1 champion Sir Jackie Stewart, following his wife Helen’s diagnosis with the disease. Stewart, 85, is also set to drive one of his old cars, the 1973 title-winning Tyrrell, on track before the race.
“It is wonderful that Michael could sign the helmet in this worthy cause – a disease for which there is no cure,” he told the Daily Mail. “His wife helped him, and it completed the set of every single champion still with us.”
Schumacher continues to require round-the-clock care from his wife Corinna and a team of medical professionals. He suffered life-changing injuries in a skiing accident in December 2013. Seven-time champion Schumacher was placed in a medically induced coma and allowed to return home the following September, but has not appeared in public since.
The Stewart family has also experienced its own fair share of medical tragedy in recent years. Helen, Sir Jackie’s wife of more than 60 years, was diagnosed with diagnosis in 2014 and her condition has steadily worsened over the years.
Just last week he spoke to the BBC and told of how she had recently, for the first time, forgotten who he was. “Just the other day it was time for dinner, she’s getting up and I’m sitting close by, and she says, ‘Where’s Jackie?’ That’s the first time that’s happened and that’s only a few weeks ago,” the Scot said.
“A bad feeling came over me.” He went on to say that his wife’s mind is in “a new world” and that she is now no longer able to walk on her own as a result of her condition.
Sir Jackie also spoke of how ‘sundowning’ – a common side-effect of the disease which sees the sufferer become more agitated later in the day as their brain becomes more tired – is affecting Lady Helen. He said: “I know that Helen doesn’t mean it when she suddenly goes round and hits me, or the nurses.
“She can hit somebody quite often, she uses language that she’s never ever said in her life and it comes like that [clicks his fingers] and I say, ‘Darling, darling, don’t say that’. She says ‘Why?’ And she’ll give me a row for doing that. That’s usually after 17:00.”
While Sir Jackie has been open about his wife’s condition as part of his bid to raise funds to find a cure, details of Schumacher’s health and medical care have been shrouded in secrecy for many years.
Corinna is determined to protect her husband’s privacy at all costs, with only a select few implicitly trusted allies allowed to visit.
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