February 7, 2011

Rally Andora Onboard:first on the scene of Kubica's crash

Thanks to our reader Gabriele for finding this on board from Mauro Moreno's car in Sunday's Rally Andora.
Moreno and navigator Corrado Bonato were starting immediately behind Robert Kubica's Skoda, were first on the scene and got out of the car to try to rescue their fellow driver.

At about 2:30, as they are climbing into the fog, Moreno remarks to his codriver how it's getting slippery. Soon after they come upon Kubica's wreck and immediately realize he was seriously hurt.

Kubica's condition as he arrived to the hospital were perhaps even worse than first thought. For one, as one might imagine as he was trapped for a scandalously long time with an forearm almost fully amputated, he lost a great quantity of blood, this was the first concern of medics as he arrived in the ER.

He remains sedated but he's been brought back to consciousness for checks. The hand is apparently satisfactorily warm but it will be over a year before the extent of nerve recuperation can be determined.

Robert also broke his elbow, shoulder, tibia and had a knee tendon severed. All of these have yet to be treated for fear of complication.
(info Gazzetta dello Sport)

here is Lotus Renault's press release today


07.02.11 UPDATE ON ROBERT KUBICA

Robert’s general condition is much better today.

After spending the night under constant observation, he was briefly woken up by the doctors of the Santa Corona Hospital (Pietra Ligure) this morning. The Lotus Renault GP driver was then able to talk to his relatives. He was also able to move his fingers, which is encouraging for the rest of his recovery process.

Professor Mario Igor Rossello, Director for the Regional Centre of Hand Surgery at San Paolo Hospital in Savona, did not notice any swelling or infection on his right forearm, and this is another good sign, although it will be several days before it is known if the operation has been 100% successful.

In order to avoid any physical stress, Robert will be put under gentle medication in order to sleep for the next 24 hours at least. Meanwhile, the doctors will decide how they will treat his elbow and shoulder fractures. Robert may have to undergo surgery once again for this, but not for a few days.

Lotus Renault GP wishes to thank the Hospital of San Paolo (Savona) and the Santa Corona Hospital (Pietra Ligure) for their professional approach and their dedication.

Lotus Renault GP will issue another update on Robert’s condition later this evening.
end of post

6 comments:

  1. They deserve to be praised, because even if this was a low-category rally (something near to club racing) other competitors flew by at full speed ignoring the yellow flags, at least until the stage was suspended.

    Moreno and Bonato showed the human reaction that everybody should have in this cases, and stopped to help.

    It's worth to notice that at 3:44 the driver says: "Lo sapevo che la tirava lì", that in english is like "God I knew he would have crashed there".
    This is because the driver is a local, and he knew that that fast section was particularly slippery in those conditions.

    Nothing else to say apart from "Hang on Robert!"

    ReplyDelete
  2. no, he really says: 'i knew he would go very fast there'

    Amarena

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  3. Amarena, trust me, I'm from the same zone as that driver, and while the verb "tirare" in Italian slang can be used also as a synonym for "going very fast", the expression used in this case by the driver is even more slangish and means "I knew he was going to crash here".

    To explain it as a dictionary would do, here it is.

    Tirare: 1. throw / 2. go very fast (slang) / 3. crash into something; eg. "tirare [sth] [swh]" or tirare [sth] into [sth].

    Anyway more good news are coming, today Robert was visited by some friends and even joked with Flavio Briatore, and the hand seems encouraging.
    Keep it up!

    ReplyDelete
  4. If this video is really from the car that started immediately behind then the ugly rumor that drivers raced by before anyone stopped to provide aid is not true. Thankfully.

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  5. I hope he recovers well. He's not the kind of driver who will sit idly by to recover. I mean this is the guy that drove in formula Renault (or Peugeot) with a broken arm fitted with titanium bolts.

    ReplyDelete

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