Schumacher should have been put on a ventilator straightaway, claims German magazine as wife is handed back star's broken ski helmet after investigators close accident probe

Stern claims his supreme fitness made medics misjudge severity of illness
It said: 'Had rescuers arrived minutes later, they would have recognised it was matter of life and death'
His condition worsened in helicopter, forcing a stopover at a local hospital
F1 legend's helmet - which broke in three - has been given back to family
Prosecutor closes crash probe after declaring no third-party involvement
Doctors inadvertently made Michael Schumacher's condition worse by not putting him on artificial respiration straightaway after his skiing accident, a German magazine claimed today.
Stern claims the Formula One star's supreme fitness could have worked against him in making medics think he was not as gravely hurt as he actually was.
His condition dramatically worsened in the first few minutes of being airborne in the rescue helicopter, necessitating a stopover in Moutiers - where an opening was cut into his trachea for the respirator pipe - thus tripling the flight time from Meribel to Grenoble to well over one hour.
Citing a medical source, the magazine said: 'Had the airborne rescuers arrived at the scene minutes later they would have recognised that it was a matter of life and death.
'But they put Schumacher into the helicopter without artificial respiration.' He currently lies at the University of Grenoble Hospital in - a delay which the magazine said was critical to his health.
The claims come as the raving driver's devoted wife Corinna was handed the broken ski-helmet he wore on the day he suffered catastrophic brain injuries.
It was given back to the family by French justice authorities on Wednesday after they declared their official investigation into the 45-year-old's accident on December 29 last year was closed.
The prosecutor in the town of Albertville, charged with the probe into Michael's low-speed ski accident, declared there was no third party involvement in the tumble which saw the seven times world Formula One champion smash his head on to rocks.

'Too optimistic': A German magazine claims doctors made Michael Schumacher's condition worse because they misdiagnosed the severity of his injuries which meant he didn't go straight to a specialist unit
Consequently the helmet - which smashed into three pieces when he plunged on to a rock hidden in snow on the slopes of the French Alpine resort of Meribel - has been returned to his family.
The helmet-mounted camera he had on together with the rented skis he used at the time of the accident were also returned.

Schumacher, who spent his 110th day in an artificial coma on Thursday, is the subject of a fierce medical debate being played out in the German media about whether vital time was lost in getting him to the right hospital after his crash.
FOCUS magazine asked on its website today: 'So what happened in the time between Méribel and Grenoble?'

Waiting: The Grenoble University Hospital, where Schumacher has been in an induced coma for three months

Stern added: 'If it is true, that Schumacher could have been ventilated sooner and operated on sooner, the consequences are potentially dramatic.
'The outlook for such patients improves dramatically when doctors operate within the first hour after the accident — a rule spread among medical professionals.
'Time will only tell if that was also true in the case of Schumacher.'
So far, Schumacher's manager Sabine Kehm has not commented on the new allegations.
His management continues to insist that he shows small signs of life, but there is no indication when he will - if ever - fully come around from the coma.
A spokesman for Meribel Town hall said there would be 'no comment' on the on-going allegations about the Schumacher case.
The French high mountain police referred all calls to the local prefecture, where a spokesman said: 'The matter remains the subject of investigation.'
He, too, said there would be no comment.
There was no comment from any of the medics who are treating Schumacher either.