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Michael Schumacher's former team-mate has revealed he offered to 'help wake up' the Formula 1 legend - only for his family to decline.
Schumacher has not been seen publicly since suffering catastrophic brain injuries during a skiing accident in the French Alps in December 2013.
His loved ones have fiercely protected his privacy and he is surrounded by a tight-knit circle while under 24-hour care at his family home in Switzerland.
Flavio Briatore, his former team boss at Benetton, described him as 'just lying in a bed' while Briatore's ex-wife, Elisabetta Gregoraci, claimed in a previous interview that Schumacher is unable to speak and is only visited by a handful of people.
'Michael doesn't speak, he communicates with his eyes,' Gregoraci said. 'Only three people can visit him and I know who they are.'
German journalist Felix Gorner struck a similarly tragic picture after reporting earlier this year that the now 56-year-old is 'completely dependent' on his caregivers.
Michael Schumacher hasn't been seen publicly since suffering brain injuries in 2013
Schumacher, 56, is protected by a close-knit circle including his wife Corinna (right)
His former Benetton team-mate, Riccardo Patrese (pictured), offered to help to wake him up
Despite the shroud of secrecy, Riccardo Patrese, who teamed up with Schumacher in 1993 and became close friends with the icon, offered to try and assist in his recovery, believing hearing a familiar voice might have triggered a reaction.
'Then he had the accident,' Patrese told Listofsweepstakecasinos.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.'
Speaking to the Irish Mirror in 2022, late F1 great Eddie Jordan revealed he had been politely turned away by Corinna when he tried to arrange to a visit.
Corinna gave a rare behind the scenes glimpse into their life together in the 2021 Netflix documentary Schumacher, when she explained how his family remain united around him.
'Michael is here. Different, but he's here, and that gives us strength, I find,' she said. 'We live together at home.
'We do therapy. We do everything we can to make Michael better and to make sure he's comfortable. No matter what, I will do everything I can. We all will.'
