Michael Schumacher's old team-mate offered to 'help wake him up' but family said no
Riccardo Patrese has opened up on his attempts to help his former F1 team-mate Michael Schumacher wake up from his coma, only to be turned down by h family
Former F1 stalwart Riccardo Patrese has revealed his attempts to "help wake up" Michael Schumacher, only to be rebuffed in his efforts to assist his former teammate's recovery.
The health of Schumacher has been a subject of intense speculation since he sustained a severe brain injury in a skiing accident in 2013. The family of the German legend has since kept a tight lid on his condition, though it's believed to be unlikely that Schumacher appears in public again, such is the nature of his condition.
Patrese, now 71, was a teammate to a rising Schumacher at Benetton in 1993 when the latter was still making his mark in F1. Despite Patrese retiring from the sport the following year, their camaraderie endured.
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The Italian has now shared his personal endeavors to contribute, even if slightly, to his friend's rehabilitation. Patrese spoke about how he and Schumacher kept their friendship alive through their mutual passion for soccer, often playing together in charity matches before the latter's life-altering accident.
"Then he had the accident," he recounted to Listofsweepstakescasinos.com. "That is a very sad moment. You know that sometimes if they hear [a familiar voice], some boys wake up, that they recognise a voice.
"I asked [Schumacher's wife] Corinna if they wanted me to go there and try to help if I could. Well, if I could, I would have, but they said, 'No, thank you. It's not the moment. It's not the moment.' But that moment has never come."
Patrese's remarks reveal a lingering desire to assist his former teammate in any way possible. Yet, he isn't the first from Schumacher's past to be shut out from his drastically altered existence.
In a 2022 interview with the Irish Mirror, the late F1 legend Eddie Jordan shared how Corinna also denied him the opportunity to visit Schumacher. 'Schumi' made his F1 debut under Jordan in 1991, only to be quickly poached by Benetton before his next race.
Even Michael's brother, Ralf, admitted to losing touch with his sibling's family following the accident over ten years ago. Speaking to German magazine Bunte in 2023, the younger Schumacher expressed his readiness to reconnect if anyone from Michael's family reaches out, but he has largely come to terms with the diminished communication over time.
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When asked what Schumacher might be up to today had the 2013 accident not occurred, Patrese could only speculate that it would involve "something with action."
He remembered his former colleague as an adrenaline junkie with whom he had a "very good connection," a bond that has since faded away.
