Alex Zanardi . . .

. . . handbike crash . . .

'. . . Ex-Formula One driver and four-time Paralympic gold medalist Alex Zanardi remains in an artificial coma after suffering severe head injuries in a horrific cycling race crash.

The 53-year-old Zanardi, who had both his legs amputated after a motor racing accident almost 20 years ago, lost control of his handbike machine while competing in the 'Obiettivo tricolore' relay race in Tuscany, Italy on Friday.

According to multiple reports, he crossed the white line into the path of an oncoming truck, which was unable to avoid hi.

Following the accident, the Italian was airlifted to the Santa Maria alle Scotte hospital in Siena where he underwent three hours of emergency neurological surgery for facial head injuries.

The hospital released an updated medical bulletin on Sunday, saying Zanardi's condition remains "serious" but stable.

"The current conditions of general stability still do not allow to exclude the possibility of adverse events," it added.

Zanardi's plight was captured in the headlines of all the major Italian sports papers as news spread of the seriousness of his accident.

"No Alex, no!" said Corrierre dello Sport, while Italian prime minister Giusseppe Conte wrote on Twitter: "Come on Alex # Zanardi, don't give up. All of Italy is fighting with you." . . .'


https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/20/m...ics/index.html


Stud


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OH NO !!!!!

Good thoughts and pryers going to one of the toughest men on the planet....

. . . to Alex Zinardi . . .

'. . . Your story is an example of how to start again after a sudden halt. Through sport you have demonstrated how to live life as protagonists, making disability a lesson in humanity . . .

Thank you for giving strength to those who had lost it. In this painful moment I am close to you, I pray for you and your family. May the Lord bless you and Our Lady keep you . . .'

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/24/s...ntl/index.html



Been 5 days, now





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'. . . Former IndyCar star and Paralympic hero Alex Zanardi has made positive steps towards recovery and is responding to outside stimuli, according to an Italian media report.

The Corriere della Sera reports that Zanardi, who was badly injured in a handbike crash in June this year, is responding to voices with hand gestures having recovered his hearing and sight following a series of brain operations after his brutal accident.

Zanardi, 54, remains hospitalized in the neurosurgical department of the hospital of Padua. The report says that he is able to shake hands and raise his thumb in response to questions.

It’s understood that he recognises his wife Daniela, who visits him every day, but cannot speak due to a hole in his throat that doctors have kept open as a precaution should he suffer any relapses in his recovery.

Doctors had to rebuild Zanardi’s skull and face after his massive impact with a truck, and they believe that he will regain the majority of his brain functions. He suffered his accident during one of the stages of the Paralympic handbike ‘Obiettivo tricolore’ relay race on June 19.

Reports from witnesses say that he lost control, overturned and went into the oncoming lane, where he struck a goods vehicle.

After being transferred to Siena’s Santa Maria alle Scotte hospital, Zanardi underwent three hours of neurosurgery and maxillofacial surgery (related to the face). He was then placed in a medically-induced coma.

After a further two operations, he was showing signs of improvement, and on July 21 he was moved to the Villa Beretta rehabilitation facility in Costa Masnaga, close to the town of Lecco, to the north of Milan. Around this time his sedation was reduced and he was brought out of his coma.

However, shortly after the transfer his condition deteriorated, and on July 24 he was moved again to the intensive care unit of the San Raffaele Hospital, which is located between central Milan and Monza.

There he soon underwent further surgery under Professor Pietro Mortini, the facility’s director of neurosurgery, for what the hospital called “late complications due to the primal head injury.”

Following that scare, the previous update was that Zanardi had shown “clinical improvements” in his condition . . .'


https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/n...imuli/4930520/





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https://www.autoblog.com/2021/12/20/...ospital-crash/







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Nice to hear this. He has been an inspiration to a lot of people.

So humbling, what an inspiration to us all this man is.

Get well soon.

Thank you for the good news.

Very cool to read.