The magazine's content, which was actually full of stories about other people who had woken from comas has infuriated Schumacher fans, who saw the smiling photo of the star cuddling wife Corinna as "abysmal", "tasteless" and "insulting".
The women's magazine, Die Aktuelle, is now under real scrutiny over whether it was a deliberate attempt to trick people into buying the publication, or simply careless editing.
Dr Gerd Hartmann, a regular reader, wrote in the comments section of popular news portal News.de: "Such magazines are simply terrible, especially given that the chances of survival with this type of therapy are abysmal.
"Out of 10 patients 5 would never recover, 3 will be severely disabled and only 2 might recover."
Another user, posting under the name SchumiFan, added: "I can't believe they are cashing in on this tragedy - there should be a law against this type of shoddy, sensationalist and downright insulting journalism."
Meanwhile, German media ethics expert Christian Schicha said: "This is a clear attempt to deceive the readers. It is an obvious attempt to make money out of a sick man.
"It is completely tasteless. It is ethically completely out of the question.
"Die Aktuelle blatantly makes the impression through the headline that they know something new about the case. It is completely irresponsible.
"Schumacher’s family have suffered enough without this kind of story circulating."
The angry responses flooded in on Twitter, too, with one poster saying: "The magazine should be sued. It is just terrible. Tasteless."
The German publisher of the magazine, the Gong-Verlag, has so far declined to comment on the outrage over the allegations it was simply trying to cash in on the tragedy.
It all comes just days after it was revealed that Corinna was spending £10 million on a fully-equipped medical facility at their Swiss estate in the hope that her husband could return home.
Doctors are still trying to wake up Schumacher from his coma, three months after he suffered a devastating brain injury in a skiing accident in the French resort of Meribel.
The process of trying to bring him out of his medically-induced coma is now in its eighth week, and the duration of the process is leading to fears that Schumacher will never recover.
However, Schumacher's wife Corrina hopes that by spending a fraction of the family's £500m fortune, it will at least allow him to continue his treatment at their £25m estate on Lake Geneva.
Schumacher has been in intensive care in Grenoble University Hospital since his December 29 accident in the Alpine resort of Meribel, in which he hit his head against a rock in an impact strong enough to crack his helmet.
After surgery to reduce bleeding and bruising he was placed in an induced coma and his body temperature was lowered to reduce the risk of further damage. The 'waking-up' process began at the end of January.
Schumacher's wife has been holding a bedside vigil for the past three months. The pair met in 1991 and have been inseparable ever since.
No comments:
Post a Comment