Michael Schumacher’s daughter has spoken about coping with the aftermath of her father’s life-changing accident.
Describing how she turned to horses following the incident that left Michael out of the public eye, Gina-Maria Schumacher, 29, opened up in the documentary Horsepower – The World of Gina Schumacher about the period following her dad’s skiing accident in 2013, which resulted in a traumatic brain injury.
Michael, now 57, sustained the injury while on a family holiday, fracturing his skull and requiring two brain surgeries before being placed in a coma for nearly six months.
Since then, access to Michael has been restricted to a close circle of family and caregivers, with his wife Corinna Schumacher, 56, overseeing his care alongside a team of medical professionals.
Gina-Maria 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.”
She 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.”
Gina-Maria also reflected on family memories involving her parents and horses, saying: “(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.”
Corinna 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.”
Gina-Maria recently welcomed her first child with her husband Iain Bethke, who she married in September 2024.
Reports have suggested Michael may have been present at the wedding, though this has been disputed.
Sources cited by Daily Mail Sport, including journalist Jonathan McEvoy, have indicated Michael may retain some awareness of his surroundings, with one source saying: “The feeling is he understands some of the things going on around him, but probably not all of them.”
