Formula One driver, Robert Kubica, that drives for the Renault team, was recently involved in a high-speed rally crash and could find himself sitting out the 2011 Formula One season as he attempts to recover from the injuries that severely fractured his arm and hand.
He had to be airlifted to a hospital in Genoa following the crash for emergency surgery to save his fractured right hand. The crash, that saw him hit a church wall head, resulted in the crash barrier of his Skoda penetrating the footwell and injuring the Pole’s arm and leg.
Kubica is making excellent progress after hours of surgery and is currently still in intensive care, where he is expected to remain for the next three days.
The head of the intensive care unit at the hospital that Kubica is recovering at now said that he was in stable condition with no post-surgery infections. Kubica will be operated on further in a week’s time to treat the fractured elbow and humerus.
Kubica himself is already awake, although severely sedated but conscious enough to talk to his manager and hospital staff. He is even able to drink and execute small movements with his hand already.
Nonetheless, it could still take up to a year for the driver to fully recover from his injuries although he could gain almost all functionality in a few months’ time.
Here we have the footage of the first car on the scene following Kubica’s crash. The car arrives within minutes of the crash, and the drive up to the scene shows just how dangerous the road was as it screams down narrow lanes with stone walls and crash barriers lining the sides just inches from the car.
As they approach the scene, a marshall frantically waves a yellow flag to get them to slow down and we get a view of Kubica’s car on the left, crumpled by the barrier. The shock and horror felt by the driver and co-driver is evident as they pull over and jump out to help, all thoughts of the race discarded in the name of helping a peer.
There is also a video simulation of the crash that shows the guardrail snapping and penetrating the car right through the driver's position, all the way through and out the rear.
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Source: Autosport, Metro UK and YouTube
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