Michael Schumacher will receive the highest honour given out by his home state in Germany next month.
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion is being recognised by the government of North Rhine-Westphalia at a ceremony on July 20. He will be the recipient of the State Prize, given out just once per year, marking all that he managed to achieve during an incredible career.
Fittingly, the prize-giving ceremony will take place at Motorworld in the city of Cologne, which has become something of a shrine to Schumacher's racing legacy. The site is home to a swathe of memorabilia from his career, as well as the family's collection of F1 cars.
Schumacher, who has been out of the public eye since his 2013 skiing accident, will not receive the award in person. Instead, his wife Corinna and children Mick and Gina are expected to accept the State Prize on his behalf, while former FIA president and close friend of the family Jean Todt will also be in attendance.
North Rhine-Westphalia prime minister Hendrik Wust described the 53-year-old as one of the "outstanding personalities in the history of sport worldwide". He added: "Michael Schumacher's work as a sportsman and as a supporter of good causes radiates far beyond the borders of his home state of North Rhine-Westphalia."
Schumacher has lived at the family's Lake Geneva home since 2014, when he was eventually discharged from hospital after spending months in a coma. A team of medical staff now support Corinna in caring for the former Bennetton, Ferrari and Mercedes racer.
Updates have been few and far between with the family preferring to keep details of his condition under wraps. But fans were allowed to learn more than had ever previously been the case last year, through an approved Netflix documentary which offered some insight into his care.
"We're together, we live together at home," said Corinna. We do therapy, we do everything we can to make Michael better and ensure he is comfortable, and to simply make him feel our family, our bond. And no matter what, I will do everything I can. We all will."
And Todt gave a brief update last November, when he said Schumacher was still "fighting". He said: "I can understand why his family and friends are protecting him because we should leave him in peace. Michael is fighting, he is fighting, and we can only hope that he will improve."
