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Seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher was in critical condition after undergoing brain surgery following a skiing accident in the French Alps on Sunday, doctors said.
The Grenoble University Hospital Center said the retired racing driver arrived at the clinic in a coma and underwent immediate surgery for a serious head trauma.
Schumacher was wearing a helmet when he had a hard fall at the Meribel resort and initially described his injury as "relatively serious." But hospital officials later said he was in critical condition, arrived in a coma, required immediate brain surgery, and had a "severe head trauma" from hitting his head on a rock, CNN reports.
GRENOBLE, France — Doctors offered a grim assessment of Michael Schumacher's head injuries Monday, providing no prognosis for the Formula One driving great after his skiing accident in the French Alps.
Schumacher has been placed in a medically induced coma to relieve pressure on his brain, which suffered bruising and bleeding when the retired seven-time world champion fell and struck a rock Sunday while skiing during a family vacation.
"We cannot predict the future for Michael Schumacher," Dr. Jean-Francois Payen, the doctor in charge of Grenoble University Hospital's intensive care unit, said at a news conference.
"He is in a critical state in terms of cerebral resuscitation," said Payen, the chief anesthesiologist treating the 44-year-old German driver. "We are working hour by hour."
Schumacher's wife, Corinna, daughter Gina Maria and son Mick were at his bedside.
"The family is not doing very well, obviously. They are shocked," his manager, Sabine Kehm, told reporters.
Although he has suffered severe injuries, the medical team looking after the German said during a press conference on Monday that the incident would likely have been fatal if he had not worn head protection.
Professor Jean-Francois Payen from the Grenoble hospital said: "We believe that taking into consideration the very violent shock, his helmet did protect him of course.
"Somebody having this kind of accident without the helmet would not have got to here."
Michael Schumacher's family hailed the Formula One legend as a fighter "who will not give up", as he spent his 45th birthday on Friday lying in a coma in a French hospital following a skiing accident.
His media representative, Sabine Kehm, said Wednesday that Schumacher was stable though still critical.
Michael Schumacher's family has provided French investigators with the helmet camera that the Formula One great wore during a skiing incident in which he was critically injured, his manager said Saturday.
Schumacher's condition remains critical but stable, manager Sabine Kehm wrote in an e-mail Saturday. He has been in a medically induced coma since Sunday, when he fell while skiing and struck his head on a rock.
Kehm also sought to play down media speculation about Schumacher's health, and requested respect for the family's privacy.
"He was skiing between three and six meters (10 and 20 feet) away from the regular ski trail," Albertville prosecutor Patrick Quincy told a news conference at the Palace of Justice in the 1992 Winter Olympics host city.
"At one point, his skis struck the top of a rock slightly visible above the snow. He loses his balance and his body falls ahead of the rock. His head hits a rock located approximately 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) below. The first rock and the second one that he hit with his head are eight meters (26 feet) away from the border of the ski trail."
There has been no evidence that Schumacher took any unnecessary risk that led to his crash.