Schumacher Family Lawyer Explains Why His Family Does Not Offer Updates On The F1 Great Michael Schumacher's Condition
F1 legend Michael Schumacher's lawyer has explained one of the reasons why those around the 7-time World Champion remain tight-lipped about his condition.
Schumacher retired from Formula 1 following the 2012 season. Sadly, in late 2013 he suffered a severe brain injury in a skiing accident. According to Daily Mail, he came out of a coma in 2014, but since then, the Formula 1 great's condition has been a closely guarded secret.
The obvious reason for this is privacy, something Schumacher valued during his career as well. However, the family's lawyer, Felix Damm, explained another reason there haven't been any updates from the family
"It was always about protecting private things," Damm told German outlet LTO. "We considered whether a final report about Michael's health could be the right way to do this. But that wouldn't have been the end of it and there would have had to be constantly updated 'water level reports,' and it would not have been up to the family when the media interest in the story stopped."
Schumacher Family Looking To Protect Itself From 'Voluntary Self-Disclosure'
Damm said that setting a precedent of "voluntary self-disclosure" with that kind of report would have made things difficult for the family. Especially if certain health details had been made public.
" could pick up on such a report again and again and ask: 'And what does it look like now,' one, two, three months or years after the message," Damm said. "If we then wanted to take action against this reporting, we would have to deal with the argument of voluntary self-disclosure."
That means the family would have had less latitude to pursue legal action if details were made public if they had already released some details themselves.
Still, despite these attempts to maintain privacy. occasional updates on Schumacher's health come out. These usually come from close acquaintances.
This includes former Ferrari team principal and FIA President Jean Todt.
“I don’t miss Michael, I see him,” Todt told Germany's RTL in an interview last year. “Yes, it’s true, I watch Grand Prix with Michael. But sure, I guess what I miss is what we used to do together.”
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