Juan Manuel Correa says he is motivated “by the dream” of returning to Formula 2 in the future, in the wake of the high-speed accident in Belgium that left him with serious injuries.
Correa is now undergoing rehabilitation in his native Miami, having spent two months in hospital in London following the accident at Spa-Francorchamps which claimed the life of Anthoine Hubert.
Correa stepped up to Formula 2 for 2019 with Sauber Junior Team by Charouz and racked up podium finishes in Azerbaijan and France, and also sampled old-spec Formula 1 machinery through his role as Alfa Romeo’s development driver.
The Ecuador-born American underwent a 17-hour surgery at the end of September, having opted against amputating his right foot, and remains primarily bound to a wheelchair.
He has nonetheless has shared footage on his social media pages of him standing, and beginning his rehab, including walking with the assistance of a frame.
“I won’t do anything I didn't do before,” he said in an interview with Mundo Sport.
“I'm with the same people that surrounded me, a lot of physical and mental work. They were my base alongside my family.
“I have a strong character. When I woke up from the coma, I realised that I could stay in bed feeling bad and depressed or fight to get up and go back, and that’s what I’ll do.
“I am motivated by the dream of returning to F2 and reaching F1 in the future.
“My passion is still racing. A friend asked me if this turns off my F1 dream. I told him that an accident does not turn off the dream, it does make you think if you want to take a risk for a dream. And I decided that I want to continue doing so because it is my dream.”
Correa is nonetheless wary that he is highly unlikely to ever regain full mobility in his lower right leg, with the next operation on his injuries set for December 23.
“The process will last a year,” he said. “There will be more surgeries to come, recovery and rehabilitation. I will fight to recover enough to step on the throttle again.
“I lost six centimetres of bone in the lower part of the tibia, [but] it is growing again with a special device.
“That's why I have all those metals pieces around my leg that you see in social media. I grow the bone by one millimetre per day.
“I have the next surgery where the bone will reach the foot. Then the process will come where the new bone will strengthen hard so it can support weight.
“After that the metals will be removed to recover as much as possible, assess how much pain or mobility I have and see what other operations follow.”
Correa added that his status as an athlete is not only assisting his recovery, but most likely saved his life when he developed a lung condition after the accident.
“At the beginning the doctors expected two years to make the recovery, but my body is doing everything faster, it recovers and regenerates the bones faster than normal,” he explained.
“Being optimistic, in a year we could have the full idea of ​​how much more I can recover.
“Being a professional athlete was a huge help, not only because of the bones and the body but also the pulmonary arrest I suffered, so I spent two weeks in a coma.
“I would not have survived without being in this physical condition.”
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