A journalist dressed up as a priest to try and gain access to the hospital room where Formula One great Michael Schumacher is lying in a coma.
Schumacher’s manager Sabine Kehm said after the man’s identity was exposed he was escorted off the premises.
“Apparently a journalist dressed as a priest had tried to gain access to Michael’s room,” Kehm told a reporter from Die Welt.
“I wouldn’t have ever imagined something like this could happen.”
Gerard Saillant, a leading Parisian brain surgeon and close friend of Schumacher’s, called on journalists not to further obstruct the medical team working on Schumacher.
“In Corinna’s name I would like to ask you not to pressurise us,” he said, referring to Schumacher’s wife. “Neither us, nor the family. You can do your best to help Schumacher win this difficult battle by leaving the doctors in peace. We are not hiding anything.”
The seven-time Formula One world champion is slightly better following a second operation during the night to treat head injuries he sustained in a skiing accident.
“The situation is more under control than yesterday but we cannot say he is out of danger,” Jean-Francois Payen, head anaesthetician, said. “We have won some time but we must continue an hour-by-hour surveillance … It is premature to speculate on his condition,” he said, adding that it could still be qualified as “critical” and that “the hours to come are crucial.”
The F1 legend remained in an induced coma and in a state of hypothermia to give him the best chance to recover from the serious head trauma.
