Faulty Ski To Blame For Schumacher's Fall

*Wife, Corina

MICHAEL Schumacher's life-threatening accident may have been the result of faulty bindings on his skis, causing the seven-time Formula One champion to lose control and hit his head on a rock in the French Alps.
French authorities are reportedly investigating that possibility from the accident late last month, as it emerged that Schumacher's wife, Corinne, has called on reporters to leave her family alone and to stay away from the Grenoble hospital where her husband is in a medically induced coma.
The Daily Mail reports that investigators are now probing the theory that the safety release mechanism on Schumacher's bindings, which attach the skis to the boots, may have failed.
The bindings are designed with a mechanism that automatically releases the boots from the skis in the event of a crash in order to prevent a skier's legs being twisted by the skis as they tumble down a slope.
If the safety release failed it could have meant Schumacher's skis were released uneccesarily, causing him to lose control and hit a rock. He was wearing a helmet but the force of the crash broke it into two pieces.
Prosecutors are also focusing on Schumacher's speed when he fell on a small off-piste section between two relatively gentle ski runs.
The German has been in an induced coma since the accident on December 29 in the French ski resort of Meribel, where he owns a chalet.
Meanwhile, Corinna issued a statement addressed "to the media".
"Please support our shared fight with Michael. It is important to me that you take the pressure off the doctors and the hospital so they can do their work," Corinna said.
"Please have faith in their statements and leave the hospital. Please also leave our family in peace," the wife of the F1 legend said.
A source close to Schumacher said Monday he had seen a "slight improvement", after doctors said he was still in a stable but critical condition.
Schumacher's fall has generated massive media interest, with his hospital in the French city of Grenoble under siege by reporters and photographers.