The doctor treating Alex Zanardi says it is not yet possible to provide a prognosis on the full extent of his situation, in the wake of the Italian’s accident on Friday.
Zanardi was participating in a handcycling event on Friday when he is understood to have lost control and collided with an oncoming truck.
Zanardi was airlifted to Siena’s University Hospital and underwent a two-and-a-half-hour neurosurgery and maxillofacial surgery due to the severe head trauma.
On Saturday morning his condition was described as serious but stable.
The 53-year-old is currently in the intensive care unit and Dr. Giuseppe Olivieri, who tended to Zanardi, warned that a full prognosis will take time.
“The condition of Alex Zanardi is serious but stable,” Dr. Olivieri is quoted by the Associated Press.
“He arrived here with major facial cranial trauma, a smashed face, and a deeply fractured frontal bone.
“We won’t see what his neurological state is until he wakes up – if he wakes up.
“Serious condition means it’s a situation when someone could die. Improvement takes time in these cases. Turns for the worse can be sudden.
“The operation went according to the plan. It’s the initial situation that was very serious.
“The next step is to try and stabilise him over the next week or 10 days. Then if things go well, he could eventually be woken up and re-evaluated.”
“As far as a prognosis of how he’ll be tomorrow, in a week or in 15 days, I don’t know.”
Zanardi, who started 41 grands prix and won two CART titles in the 1990s, has participated in handcycling following the accident in 2001 that resulted in the amputation of his lower legs.
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