The helicopter pilot who saved Michael Schumacher has broken his silence on the incident 12 years after it happened. The legendary Formula One icon required urgent medical attention after crashing while on a ski slope in the French Alps in 2013.
Yannick Dainese was flying the helicopter that rescued Schumacher and took him to the hospital, with the pilot revealing what he saw that day has stuck with him ever since. His team received an emergency call from the ski slopes of Meribel Alpina resort, instructing them to rush straight to the incident.
Speaking to French outlet 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.”
He added: “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.”
Yannick admitted to never being the biggest Formula One fan, but he, of course, understood the significance of the task at hand. He continued: “Subconsciously, the pressure was there because I knew he was worshipped like a god. But for me, he was just another seriously injured person.”
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Yannick and his partner put the seven-time world champion onto a vacuum mattress and transported him inside the helicopter. The journey across the Alps to the nearest hospital was a silent one, Yannick recalls, with nobody inside the helicopter speaking.
The pilot wasn’t aware how serious Schumacher’s injury was when he dropped the German off at the hospital in Grenoble. When he returned to the same hospital a few days later, he was surprised to find out the news had gone public.
He said: “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.”
The Schumacher family have been incredibly secretive about Schumacher’s condition following the incident, with Yannick taking so long to speak out in respect to their privacy. Schumacher was put into an induced coma, which lasted over eight months.