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 "We can say that his condition is life-threatening," Jean-Francois
Payen, head anesthetician at the CHU hospital in the eastern French
city of Grenoble, told a news conference.
"For the moment we cannot say what Michael Schumacher's future is,"
he added. "We are working round the clock — we are trying to win
time."
The retired motor racing great, 44, slammed his head on a rock while
skiing off-piste on Sunday morning in the French Alpine resort where
he has a vacation home.
"His helmet did of course protect him at least partly. Someone who
had suffered a similar accident without a helmet would not have made
it here (to the hospital)," Payen said.
Schumacher was initially conscious as he was transported to a local
hospital in Moutiers and then to Grenoble. However, his condition
deteriorated sharply afterwards.
Neurosurgeon Stephan Chabardes said an emergency brain scan carried
out on Schumacher had revealed internal bleeding and injuries
including contusions and lesions. He said they had operated to treat
the internal bleeding.
Doctors said Schumacher had been placed in an artificial coma but,
contrary to an earlier French media report, said they had not
carried out a second operation during the night and were not
planning any further interventions at this stage.
A spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was shocked
to hear the news.
"We hope that he overcomes his injuries and can recover," the
spokesman told a regular briefing in Berlin.
HOPES AND PRAYERS
In Germany, Schumacher's accident topped news bulletins, with the
bestselling tabloid newspaper Bild reporting on its website: "Schumi
fighting for his life".
Schumacher was under the care of Professor Gerard Saillant, a brain
and spinal injury expert who is also president of the International
Automobile Federation (FIA) Institute. Saillant told the news
conference he was there as "a friend" and gave no further details on
his condition.
Bild reporters said Ross Brawn, the Briton who worked with
Schumacher at Ferrari and Mercedes as technical director and team
principal respectively, had arrived in Grenoble.
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Leading names in motor racing reacted with shock on Twitter.
"If anyone can pull through, it's him," said Britain's triple Indy
500 winner Dario Franchitti, who is still walking on crutches after
a crash in October that ended his racing career.
"Come on Michael, give us one of those race stints at pure
qualifying pace to win through, like you used to. You can do it,"
said Schumacher's former Benetton team mate Martin Brundle.
Former Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa, who suffered a near fatal
head injury at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, said he was praying
for his friend.
Schumacher is the most successful Formula One driver of all time
with a record 91 race victories in a career spanning more than two
decades.
He won his first two titles with Benetton in 1994, the year when
Brazilian triple champion Ayrton Senna died in a crash at the San
Marino Grand Prix, and 1995.
The German then took five in a row with Ferrari between 2000 and
2004 in what now seems a golden age for the Italian team who named a
square after him at their Fiorano test track.
Schumacher left the sport last year after a less successful
three-year comeback with Mercedes following an earlier retirement
from Ferrari at the end of 2006. He lives in Switzerland with his
wife and two children.
(Additional reporting by Muriel Boselli and Jean-Baptiste Vey in
Paris, Madeline Chambers in Berlin; writing by Mark John and Alan
Baldwin; editing by Ed Osmond)
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