Michael Schumacher remains in a French hospital in an induced coma on his 45th birthday today. The last update given by his medical team, made on January 1, 2014, was that the Formula One racing legend remains in a stable yet critical condition.

Schumacher was on holiday with family at the Meribel mountain resort in France when he fell and hit his head on a rock in a skiing accident on December 29, 2013. Despite wearing a helmet, the impact was severe enough to cause hemorrhaging of his brain.

He was later rushed to Grenoble University Hospital Center where he was put into an induced coma so doctors could perform surgery to stop the haemorrhaging. Doctors are reluctant to give further updates until his condition changes.

It’s thought the accident may have occurred after Schumacher was returning from an area of deep snow that he ventured into to help a friend’s daughter that had fallen.

“So he started to ski again, went into this deep snow, and apparently, this is what we guess, hit a rock which he had not seen when he wanted to do a curve, and he was kind of catapulted into the air and, apparently, head down, hitting another rock, which was an extremely bad and unfortunate circumstance, and not because he was speeding too much,” Schumacher’s manager Sabine Kehm told reporters, according to SPEED. “I have spoken with several people, and also ski teachers, and they tell me it can even happen at 10 kilometers per hour. It is just very, very unfortunate.”

Schumacher's family are by his bedside and have thanked doctors for their efforts and also thanked fans for the outpouring of support. In honor of their hero, many of the fans have also showed up at the hospital to hold a silent vigil today.

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