Corinna Schumacher: the loyal wife who remains by Michael's side

hellomagazine.com As reports are confirmed that Michael Schumacher is being awoken from his medically-induced coma and showing signs of response, his wife Corinna remains firmly by his side.

While the weeks since Michael's skiing accident in December have been horrendous, Corinna has never given up hope on her husband.

After snatching a few hours of sleep she has been running past the gamut of photographers and fans outside his hospital to sit by his bedside, watching as neurosurgeons battle to save her husband. On occasion, Corinna has also joined by the couple's teenage children Gina and Mick.

Pretty and blonde, she is far from being the cliched trophy wife some associate with the glamorous sport. Behind the delicate exterior is a strong woman who never tried to tame her daredevil man, knowing that it was part of who he is.

Their relationship began after Corinna broke up with another driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

They married in 1995 and settled quietly in Switzerland if in the luxury made possible by his estimated £500 million fortune.

"Rarely do you see a couple made for each other as the Schumachers seemed to be," reported the German publication Stern magazine of their union.

Over the years they acquired more property - a ranch in Texas and ski chalets in Meribel, where he had his accident.

Yet at the heart of their life was a normal family. Corinna was a former saleslady from a small town in the same region as the seven-time World Champion and they were devoted to their two children.

She also matched him for ambition, raising horses at the ranch in Texas and building it into a multi-million-pound business.

Formula One's fastest told a German TV channel last year that he and his wife had never had a serious fight in all their married life together.

"It's because we share the same values," he commented. "During all the time I was racing she was my guardian angel."

Crucially, she has never tried to slow him down. "Michael's passion for racing is just huge. It would have been impossible without this deep passion," she explained. "I got to know him as a racer and I had previously always had fullest confidence in him."

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