As the trio behind a cruel plot threatening to reveal Michael Schumacher’s medical records to the world are sentenced, we take a look at his wife Corinna’s determination to protect him
A bouncer has been jailed for trying to extort £12 million from the family of Michael Schumacher.
The 56-year-old’s former bodyguard Markus Fritsche obtained confidential pictures, videos and medical records of the Formula One ace, who has not been since publicly since a life-changing ski accident in 2013. Fritsche, 53, passed the downloaded material to nightclub bouncer Yilmaz Tozturkan, 53, who said he would “upload them on to the dark web” unless money was paid.
Tozturkan’s It expert son Daniel Lins, 30, was also involved in the plot, which saw his father jailed for three years, Fritsche handed a two year suspended sentence and Lins a six month suspended sentence. Schumacher’s family saw the plot as the ultimate betrayal carried out by a former employee who was part of their trusted, very small inner circle.
Michael’s devoted wife Corinna Schumacher is known to exercise extreme caution with only trusted visitors allowed to see the former racing driver. He is reported to spend his days in an at-home hospital facility receiving around-the-clock care.
Corinna, 55, is thought to have filed an application for the German court case to be heard in private, meaning the public could be excluded from the hearing if her husband’s health is discussed.
Michael was rumoured to have attended the wedding of his daughter Gina-Maria last September but his close pal, ex-Formula One racer Johnny Herbert disputed this. He told Flashscore: “It will always be a closed shop. The most recent rumour was he attended his daughter’s wedding. Unfortunately, from what I understand that was all A1 fake news and no truth in it.”
Back in 2013, the star’s injury happened in the French Alps when he struck his head against a rock. Despite his ski helmet taking most of the impact, Michael suffered a severe injury and underwent two life-saving operations, spending months in a medically induced coma.
The racing driver became well enough to be moved to a rehabilitation facility before being brought back to his family home on Lake Geneva in September 2014. Since then, his wife Corinna has permitted only a select few trusted friends and relatives to visit him ever since, under strict protocols.
In the 2021 Netflix documentary Schumacher, she explained: “We’re trying to carry on as a family, the way Michael liked it and still does. And we are getting on with our lives. It’s very important to me that he can continue to enjoy his private life as much as possible. Michael always protected us, and now we are protecting Michael.”
There are only a handful of people who know the details of Michael’s condition and care. In 2014, Philippe Streiff revealed his close friend was paralysed and used a wheelchair. “He is getting better but everything is relative,” said the former racing driver, who uses a wheelchair after an accident on the track. “It’s very difficult. He can’t speak. Like me, he is in a wheelchair paralysed. He has memory problems and speech problems.”
By 2020, it was reported the star had been spending more time at the family’s villa on the Spanish holiday island of Majorca, where Gina-Maria’s wedding took place.
