Former F1 champion undergoes second operation after Alps ski accident as offical confirms his helmet split in two when he fell
Doctors battling to save Michael Schumacher from the life-threatening injuries which the racing driver sustained in a skiing accident said on Tuesday they had seen a "slight improvement" in his condition following a second operation to ease the pressure on his brain.
But, as the seven-times Formula One world champion prepared to spend a third night in a medically induced coma in the University hospital, Grenoble, his medical team stressed that his condition remained critical and "very fragile".
"The situation is under better control than yesterday [Monday]," said chief anaesthesiologist Jean-François Payen. "We cannot say he is out of danger but … we have bought ourselves a bit of time. The hours ahead are crucial for our treatment strategy."
News of Schumacher's second operation came as fresh details emerged concerning the 44-year-old's crash, which occurred shortly after 11am on Sunday in the Alpine resort of Méribel.
The prosecutor's office in the resort town of Albertville, which is overseeing the investigation into the accident, confirmed that Schumacher's helmet had split when he fell and hit a rock. "It broke apart in two pieces," an official said.
However, amid speculation that the German racing driver had been travelling at speeds of up to 100km/h before hurtling into the rock, the official added that it was too early to infer that the helmet had broken because of the speed at which Schumacher was skiing downhill.
"It's too early to draw conclusions about excessive speed," said the official. "It will take two or three more days to know exactly what happened."
Sabine Kehm, a spokesman for Schumacher, rejected the suggestions outright. From what she had understood from speaking to witnesses, she said, he had not been travelling at high speed and had in fact stopped shortly before the accident to help a friend who had fallen over on the slopes.
He had been skiing not only with his son, Mick, 14, but also with a group of friends, she clarified.
As Schumacher set off again, Kehm said, he appeared to hit a rock and was "catapulted in the air", falling "apparently head down" on to another rock.
"[It] was an extremely bad and unfortunate circumstance and not because he was speeding too much," she said. "I have spoken with several people, also ski teachers, and they tell me that that can happen even at 10km/h. It was just very, very unfortunate."
On the fifth floor of the hospital, meanwhile, the fight to limit the impact of the devastating accident continued. Late on Monday afternoon, said doctors, a "surgical window of opportunity" had opened due to a "transitory improvement" in Schumacher's condition that allowed them to carry out a brain scan – a process which requires a certain level of stability in patients as it involves them being moved.
The results, which showed a large haematoma on the left side of Schumacher's brain as well as others in different places and continuing lesions, indicated however that his condition was stable enough to undergo surgery.
The doctors were suddenly presented with an unexpected possibility – that of operating a second time to try to relieve some of the intracranial pressure.
As they continued to wait at his bedside, Schumacher's family – chiefly his wife, Corinna, who is in Grenoble with their two children, Mick and Gina-Maria, 16 – were consulted about the plan. Emmanuel Gay, the hospital's chief of neurology, said it was a "difficult decision" despite the medical evaluation that it could be done without incurring big risks.
At 10pm, an operation to remove the large haematoma began and, two hours later, had been successfully carried out, said the doctors. On Tuesday morning, another scan confirmed "signs … of slight improvement", said Jacqueline Hubert, director of the hospital.
But, while agreeing that the situation had changed, the doctors refused to speculate about Schumacher's prognosis. Gérard Saillant, a leading brain surgeon who rushed to Grenoble as a friend and former doctor to Schumacher, said such an exercise, even concerning the next few days, was "stupid".
"We cannot say it's done … but it's a bit better than it was yesterday," he said.
Gay admitted that the team had been "a bit surprised" by the patient's modest improvement. "But, careful," he said. "There is still a long way to go."
His colleague Payen added: "In intensive care things can change very quickly, in a good way and in a bad way. We have bought a bit of time."
In the immediate future, Schumacher appears certain to stay in the induced coma which is aimed at reducing the swelling on his brain.
The doctors said it was too early to start thinking of what came after that. Payen also said that, for the moment, transferring Schumacher to another hospital closer to home would be too dangerous due to his fragility.
His family look likely to remain at his side. On Tuesday his father Rolf, who introduced Schumacher to go-karting when he was just a small boy, was pictured entering the hospital.
Kehm declined to comment on how the racing driver's relatives were coping with the crisis. But she said messages of support had poured in from fans all over the world.
• This article was amended on Tuesday 31 December 2013 to correct the spelling of Gérard Saillant's name and the attribution of a quote by Saillant.
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