Race fans know Alex's story, losing his legs and excelling at hand powered bike racing. He was in a race, lost control on a downhill, rolled over into an oncoming truck. It's touch and go now, in an induced coma for brain injuries. It will be several days before more is known, prayers for Alex.

All I have at this time is an Italian source, sorry --

la Repubblica Report

Prayers to Alex and his family. He has always been a dynamic force in all his racing adventures. He was the driver who made "donuts" after winning famous.

A great man, hope he pulls through it.

That guy is a model of perseverance and resiliency. His crash in Germany that resulted in the loss of his legs was horrific, slow down the video and the images were visceral.

Hope he's able to make it.

Great guy. Hope he comes through without serious brain injuries. He’s a fighter for sure.

Updated story from Racer.com:

https://racer.com/2020/06/19/z...dition-very-serious/

UPDATE: June 20, 8:30am ET: The Santa Maria alle Scotte hospital in Siena issued a new update Saturday morning on the condition of racing legend Alex Zanardi, who suffered serious head injuries in a road accident during a handbike race on Friday. While stating that his condition is stable, the hospital noted that his condition remains “very serious.”

The full statement, translated from the original Italian, is as follows:

“Regarding the clinical condition of the athlete Alex Zanardi, hospitalized from 1800 (hours) on June 19 in very serious condition at the Santa Maria alle Scotte hospital following a road accident that occurred in the province of Siena… the patient, subjected to a delicate neurosurgical intervention on the evening of June 19, and subsequently transferred to intensive care, has stable hemodynamic and metabolic parameters.

“He is intubated and supported by artificial ventilation while the neurological picture remains serious.”

Giuseppe Oliveri, director of neurosurgery at the hospital, offered additional on Zanardi’s condition in a press briefing on Saturday.

“He arrived with facial fracture and a sunken fracture of the frontal bones,” Oliveri told Corriere della Sera. “He will have to remain sedated and ventilated, allowing the secondary damage as a result of the trauma to stabilize over time.

“The improvement, if any, will be very slow over time. Assessments of the neurological situation will be made when he wakes up, if he wakes up. It is useless to speculate today how it will go – I just know that I am absolutely convinced that it is worth treating him.”

UPDATE, June 19, 6:45pm ET: Alex Zanardi has been moved to intensive care following three hours of surgery after suffering what were described as “very serious” head injuries in crash during a handbike race on Friday.

“Regarding the clinical condition of Alex Zanardi, hospitalized in a very serious condition at the Santa Maria alle Scotte hospital due to a road accident [that] occurred in the province of Siena, the Siena Health Director informs that the neurosurgical and maxillofacial intervention to which the athlete was subjected, due to the serious head injury, started shortly after 7pm and ended shortly before 10pm,” said a statement issued by the hospital, translated from its original Italian. “The patient was then transferred to intensive care, with a reserved prognosis. His health condition is very serious.”

The 56-year-old two-time CART champion and four-time Paralympic gold medalist reportedly veered out the closed racing lane and onto the open side of the road toward oncoming traffic during a descent, where he collided with a truck. According to La Repubblica Florence, medical personnel arrived on the scene 20 minutes later, whereupon Zanardi was airlifted to hospital.

Hate that. Just listened to his recent interview on F1 Beyond the Grid podcast. Fascinating guy m

From what I'm seeing, it's not like a Schumacher situation. The biggest concern now may be vision problems, extent unknown.

New Zanardi Update:

https://racer.com/2020/07/06/z...onstruction-surgery/

Alex Zanardi underwent five-hour facial reconstruction surgery on Monday as part of ongoing treatment for serious injuries sustained in a hand cycling accident last month.

The surgery was Zanardi’s third since he lost control of his hand bike on a descent during a race and collided with a truck in Pienze on June 19. In addition to rebuilding his face, the surgery aimed to stabilize other injuries, and pave the way for a continuation of a treatment plan that includes specialists from several medical disciplines.

“The fractures were complex,” said Dr. Paolo Gennaro, head of maxillofacial surgery at the Santa Maria alle Scotte Hospital in Siena. “This required careful programming that made use of computerized technologies, digital and three-dimensional, made to measure for the patient. The complexity of the case was rather singular, even if it is a type of fracture that we routinely face in our center.”

After the operation, Zanardi was returned to the hospital’s intensive care unit, where he remains in an induced coma. His reported condition of stable on the cardio-respiratory and metabolic front, and severe from the neurological standpoint, remains unchanged from previous updates issued by the facility.

Pulling for him.

quote:

Originally posted by Prefontaine:
Pulling for him.

Same here, can't imagine the situation of coming around a corner and facing a truck, or any heavy vehicle for that matter. Onboard has to be an "Oh Shit" moment, I'm sure.

+3 on pulling for him

was a fan of his when he was racing cars, did not know (as in I had not kept up) he was racing bikes,