Michael Schumacher has signed a race helmet due to be auctioned for charity. With the help of his wife, the Formula One icon wrote his initials ‘MS’ on a helmet worn by Sir Jackie Stewart during the prime of his racing career.
Schumacher has not been seen in public since he suffered life-altering injuries in a 2013 skiing accident. He is given round-the-clock medical care by his wife Corinna and a series of trusted medical staff. However, he and each living former Formula One world champion have contributed to a signed helmet to be auctioned. The money received for the rare piece of memorabilia for Stewart’s Race Against Dementia charity.
Stewart told the Daily Mail: “It is wonderful that Michael could sign the helmet in this worthy cause – a disease for which there is no cure. His wife helped him, and it completed the set of every single champion still with us.”
The report adds that seven-time world champion Schumacher was able to sign the helmet with the guiding hand of Corinna. Stewart will show off the helmet at the Bahrain Grand Prix and the 85-year-old will also drive an exhibition lap around the circuit in his 1973 championship-winning Tyrrell.
Stewart was compelled to launch his charity after his wife of 53 years, Lady Helen, was diagnosed with dementia over a decade ago. Her diagnosis came shortly after she crashed her car, leading the family to conclude that something was not right. Last week, Stewart recounted the moment she forgot who he was for the first time.
“Just the other day it was time for dinner, she’s getting up and I’m sitting close by, and she says, ‘Where’s Jackie?’,” he told the BBC. “That’s the first time that’s happened and that’s only a few weeks ago. A bad feeling came over me.”
Meanwhile, little is known of Schumacher’s condition. He lives with his family on their home on the shore of Lake Geneva, Switzerland. Corinna opened up in a rare interview as part of a documentary about her husband’s life.
Speaking in 2021, she said: “I miss Michael every day. But it’s not just me who misses him. It’s the children, the family, his father, everyone around him. Everybody misses Michael, but Michael is here – different, but here. He still shows me how strong he is every day.”