Former Formula One driver and Paralympic champion Alex Zanardi has been operated on for a third time following his June 19 road crash, doctors said yesterday.
Zanardi suffered major head injuries after crashing against an oncoming truck during a handcycle relay event on the road between the Tuscan villages of Pienza and San Quirico.
He underwent surgery to reconstruct his skull and stabilize areas affected by the impact, the Santa Maria alle Scotte hospital in Siena
said in a statement.
Doctors used “computerised, digital and three-dimensional
technologies, tailor-made for the patient,” to tackle “complex fractures,” maxillofacial surgeon Paolo Gennaro said.
The operation lasted about five hours, after which Zanardi was returned to the intensive care department, where he is in an induced
coma. He remains “stable” in terms of cardiorespiratory function and metabolism, and in a “critical” neurological state, the hospital said.
The 53-year-old was first operated on hours after the accident and then a second time on June 29.
Zanardi is known for his never-give-up attitude.
He switched from car racing to paraCycling after losing both legs in a CART Championship crash at the German EuroSpeedway Lausitz race
track in 2001.
He won four gold and two silver medals at the 2012 and 2016 Paralympics and was to race at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, which was
delayed by a year due to the pandemic. (DPA)
Alex Zanardi
