Schumacher's health will remain private

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Michael Schumacher's health will remain a private matter "to protect his intimate sphere", says his manager Sabine Kehm.

The seven-time world champion's health has been a central topic since his skiing accident in December 2013 which left him with severe head injuries. Schumacher was in a medically-induced coma for six months before returning home to continue his rehabilitation, at which point updates about his progress have been few and far between.

Following the announcement of the 'Keep Fighting' initiative, designed to use support for Schumacher "as a force for good", Kehm made it clear there would not be a change from the current choice to limit information about his health.

"Michael's health is not a public issue, and so we will continue to make no comment in that regard," Kehm said in a statement. "We have to protect his intimate sphere. Legally seen and in the longer term, every statement related to his health would diminish the extent of his intimate sphere."

While Kehm says she understands the desire for people to know about Schumacher's condition, she added: "We do this with full commitment to Michael's guidelines and can only thank people for their understanding."

And Kehm says the decision to limit information regarding Schumacher's health stems from his attempts to keep his personal life away from the public eye even before his accident.

"Michael has always been very protective of his privacy, even during the most successful times of his career. He has always made sure there is a clear and distinct line between his public persona and his private one."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.