Michael Schumacher's medical bill may have already reached $15 million, according to the most recent inside report.
According to the Express, the same insider who reported the staggering medical bill stated that "progress is painfully slow" and that "there is no miracle on the horizon." The same report also claimed that Schumacher is wheelchair-bound, unable to speak, and unaware of his present surroundings.
At this stage, he is recovering at a custom-built clinic within the confines of his Swiss home near Lake Geneva. Privacy has been maintained by an increased security presence around the spacious property.
For the last few months, Schumacher has been receiving around-the-clock care from a medical team of 15 personnel led by Professor Jean-Francois Payen. Payen was the same surgeon who operated on blood clots in Schumacher's brain. Every day, the team massages Schumacher for hours to stimulate his muscles. At the same time, the team is constantly looking for signs of improvement. So far, Schumacher's family has remained silent on the current state of the retired Formula One racing champion.
On Monday, March 30, Sebastian Vettel paid tribute to Schumacher after winning a victory with Ferrari at the Malaysian Grand Prix. The four-time world champion cited Schumacher as the inspiration behind the former's recent victory.
"Michael was my hero. All the kids at the go-kart track looked up to him," Vettel said to BBC. "When he turned up to shake hands every year it made our lives. I don't understand yet how special it is."
The Schumachers avoided yet another tragedy when one of their family members missed boarding Germanwings Flight 9525, which crashed on Tuesday, March 24. The 21-year-old copilot Andreas Lubitz intentionally flew the plane into the mountains of the southern French Alps, killing all 150 people onboard. Lubitz reportedly struggled with a long bout of depression prior to the crash. Sebastian Stahl, step-brother of Michael Schumacher, was on the passenger list of the doomed flight. Stahl instead boarded another flight that departed 24 hours ahead of Flight 9525.
Schumacher awoke from a medically-induced coma in June last year, after having sustained a significant head injury following a ski accident in December 2013. The retired racecar driver is best remembered for winning seven world titles. Schumacher won five or his seven world titles with Ferrari. The actual state of Schumacher's condition remains unclear in a media silence that has continually been enforced by his family.
