'Paralyzed' Schumacher having difficulty with speech, memory, claims friend

Wellington: Former Formula One driver Philippe Streiff has said that motorsport racing legend Michael Schumacher is paralyzed and still has difficulty with his speech and memory almost a year after a horror skiing accident.

Streiff, who is Schumacher's good friend, was seriously injured in pre-season testing for a race in Brazil in 1989, leaving him a quadriplegic and confined to a wheelchair ever since.

The Frenchman said that it's very difficult, Schumacher can't speak, adding that like him, the stricken German is in a wheelchair, paralyzed. He added that Schumacher has memory problems and speech problems, Stuff.co.nz reported.

Schumacher's family has released very little information to the media about the former world champion's accident.

What is known is that the accident happened on December 29, 2013, with doctors performing head surgery later that day and again on December 31 to relieve pressure on Schumacher's brain. He was then placed in an induced coma for almost six months.

In June, Schumacher left intensive care at Grenoble Hospital in France and was transferred to Lausanne Hospital in Switzerland for rehabilitation and is now being cared for at his home on the shores of Lake Geneva by his wife and private medical staff.

Schumacher's spokeswoman Sabine Kehm would not confirm or deny Streiff's comments, saying only that the Frenchman did not have contact with them and that the comments were his opinions.