The parallels are unmistakable.

This was immediately clear to Elfriede Roth when she heard of Michael Schumacher's skiing accident at the end of 2013 and the dramatic consequences became known little by little.

Immediately memories of her husband Reinhold Roth's accident came to mind.

The Upper Swabian from Amtzell had an accident on June 17, 1990 in a motorcycle race in Rijeka.

The two-time World Cup runner-up in the class up to 250 cubic centimeters collided with a slow-moving competitor while overtaking his motorcycle.

Roth suffered a traumatic brain injury. Because the local medical care was poor, he was without oxygen for five and a half minutes. The doctors gave the then 37-year-old a ten percent chance of survival. Roth survived and yet paid a heavy price. And so Elfriede Roth had to think of Corinna Schumacher years later: "She's really going through the same feelings that I went through," said Roth on a talk show.

Elfriede Roth had to completely reorganize her life after the stroke of fate.

In addition to caring for them, she also made sure that her son, Matthias Roth, who was six years old at the time, did not miss out.

Satisfied, she later said: “I've mastered our life quite well.” While Michael Schumacher has been shielded from the public since the accident, Elfriede Roth dealt very openly with her husband's stroke of fate.

In contrast to the record Formula 1 world champion, her husband was nowhere near as famous as a two-time runner-up in a World Championship ranking and the public's interest was correspondingly lower.

challenge accepted

She also spoke extensively with journalists about her husband's health progress.

For example, that he spoke another word after seven years.

And when he could sit he was pushed for walks in a wheelchair every day.

But she also confessed: “The first three years were tough, at first you just work.” Elfriede Roth found great support in her family and in faith, as she regularly said.

Elfriede Roth never quarreled with her fate.

Or damn her husband's job.

"We spent 16 wonderful years together", she still says today, "and he has offered me so much that others have to live to be 80 years old and then didn't live as intensely as we did."

Before the accident, the Roth family had bought a piece of land in Amtzell. The construction of the house in Mediterranean style started afterwards. A separate area was created for Reinhold Roth. His yellow and white leather suit hung on the wall, and some of his trophies stood on a shelf. And there was also a room especially for physiotherapy and occupational therapy. “I wanted Reinhold to be challenged every day,” she said. And the former athlete accepted the challenge.

Even the beginning of his career was challenging. He had to cope with little money and repeatedly suffered setbacks because he had not got any competitive material. It was only when Roth rose to the status of a works driver in 1987 thanks to the support of a sponsor, appropriately a cigarette manufacturer for the chain smoker Roth, who was therefore only called "Jointie" by everyone, that he advanced to become a winning driver. He has never forgotten his arduous ascent, he always made time for the fans and also liked to joke with them.

Elfriede Roth was also happy to talk about a very special dream: “There was a large corn field, he's standing at the door, God before him.

Matthias and I stand a long way away, like little dots - and then God sends him back to us and Reinhold comes with great effort, with very small steps, towards us.

That was our life: many small steps and arduous - especially for Reinhold. ”On Friday Reinhold Roth lost his long fight.

At the age of 68, he fell asleep peacefully with his family.