Michael Schumacher‘s brother, Ralf, has made a heartbreaking comment about the stricken F1 legend ahead of his wedding day. Ralf, who publicly came out as gay two years ago, will tie the knot with his partner, Etienne Bousquet-Cassagne, this weekend. The couple got engaged in February and will host a glam wedding ceremony in the south of France.
Their relationship and eventual marriage has been the subject of a reality show in Germany and their wedding is set to be filmed in preparation for the series finale. It will feature a behind-the-scenes look, with one scene showing Etienne travelling to get cosmetic surgery ahead of the big day.
At that point, Ralf admits that he isn’t a big fan of hospitals, saying he only visits when he gets injured or when “something terrible happened in our family”.
It’s a heartbreaking comment that refers to when Michael was airlifted for emergency treatment after his near-fatal skiing accident 12 years ago.
The seven-time world champion has not been seen in public since he was seriously injured while skiing off-piste at the exclusive French resort of Meribel.
He suffered a traumatic brain injury and spent six months in a medically induced coma before he was finally sent home. Very few details have been released in the following years, with the Schumacher family keeping things under wraps.
Telling his story to L’Equipe, he said: “A rescuer jumped out of the helicopter with the doctor and said to me: ‘We’re going to Schumacher’. At first I thought he was joking.
“But when the commander ordered us to remove our microphones and GoPros, and to forbid journalists from accompanying us, I understood that it was true.
“Subconsciously, the pressure was there because I knew he was worshipped like a god. But for me, he was just another seriously injured person.
“A few days after the accident, I went back to the hospital to transport another injured person. What I saw shocked me.
“There were so many buses, red flags, and people everywhere that the hospital grounds had been transformed into a Formula One circuit. It was unbelievable.”