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Alex Zanardi in a coma after a terrible motorcycle accident in Italy
53-year-old Zanardi, whose legs were amputated after a motorbike accident nearly 20 years ago, lost control of his handbike when competing in the ‘Obiettivo tricolore’ relay race in Tuscany, Italy on Friday.
According to some reports, he crossed the white line into the oncoming truck lane, which he couldn’t avoid.
After the accident, the Italian was flown to the Santa Maria alle Scotte hospital in Siena where he underwent three hours of emergency neurological surgery for head injuries on the face.
A statement released by the hospital said Zanardi was in “stable” condition in intensive care after his surgery.
“He was incubated and supported by artificial ventilation while the neurological picture remained serious,” read the medical bulletin.
Zanardi’s fate made headlines in all major Italian sports newspapers as the news spread 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 Italians fight with you.”
Zanardi raced for Jordan, Minardi and Lotus in F1 before successfully switching to CART racing in the US where he won the series in 1997 and 1998.
He returned to F1 with Williams for one season in 1999 before returning to the CART series.
It was in this formula that he had a famous 320kmh accident at Lausitzring in Germany in September 2001, escaping with his life, but lost both legs.
In showing extraordinary determination and enthusiasm, Zanardi adapted to prosthetic limbs and returned to compete at the European Tour Car Championship in 2003, driving a BMW.
But it was because of the exploitation on hand bicycles that the man from Bologna had become the most recognized by an audience throughout the world, winning several medals at the 2012 and 2016 Paralympics and world championships.
He is in training for Tokyo Paralympics this year, hoping to add to his impressive number of gold medals, until it is postponed.
Zanardi also competed in the grueling Ironman triathlon race, creating the best new world for Paralympic athletes at a race in Italy last September and continuing to race BMW that was specially adapted at various durable motorsport events.
Messages of support have flooded the entire sports world, with former F1 world champion and Indy Car legend Mario Andretti writing: “I’m so worried and scared about Alex Zanardi that I’m holding my breath. I’m a fan. I’m a fan of his friend.
“Please do what I do and pray, pray for this extraordinary man,” he tweeted.
“Alex is one of those people who truly inspires life and, as we all know, is a fighter who is perpetual. Stay strong and Forza Alex,” his former Williams team posted on Twitter.
“Fight as you know how to do it, Alex. You are a very great man, courage,” Ferrari star Charles Leclerc tweeted in Italian.
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