Alex Zanardi lost both legs in this horrific IndyCar crash in Germany in 2001.
Competing on the high-speed EuroSpeedway Lausitz in Germany, Zanardi was leading late in the race when he lost control of his car exiting the pits.
Coming to rest in the middle of the track, he could do nothing except hope that the other cars, travelling at 340km/h, would miss him. The first car, driven by Patrick Carpentier did, but Alex Tagliani, just behind Carpentier, couldn’t avoid the stricken Zanardi.
The impact was horrendous, shattering Zanardi’s car and leaving the Italian with life-threatening injuries.
Long-time medical director for the IndyCar series, Dr Steve Olvey, wrote about the accident in his book Rapid Response.
“I watched the TV monitor in horror, fearing the worst,” Olvey wrote.
“I was sure no-one could survive that kind of an impact.
“(Alex’s) breathing was obstructed and he was unconscious. Blood spewed from both legs. Both femoral arteries, the large ones that carry all the blood to the legs, had been severed.
“(We) knew there wasn’t much time left.”
IndyCar’s resident priest, Father Phil De Rea, collected oil from the crashed car to administer the last rites to Zanardi, before the rescue helicopter flew him to a Berlin hospital.
Both legs had been severed in the accident, but seven hours of surgery was able to save the Italian’s life.
“When (wife Daniela) told me that I had lost my legs, it seemed insignificant – I was happy just to be alive,” Zanardi wrote in his autobiography My Story.