Formula One: Ferrari’s Felipe Massa reflects on his Budapest Accident ahead of Hungarian Grand Prix
It is now one year to the day when Felipe Massa encountered a life threatening injury in Hungary. Massa said that when he makes his way back to the Budapest track, his first job will be to meet and thank everyone at the track for the help and support they gave him in the difficult time. Massa said that he does not remember much from the incident, but the amount of care and help the marshals and medical team at the track gave him was phenomenal, and he would always be indebted to them. The Brazilian said that if the crew on that day had not acted on time, he may have lost his life and now he owes them for that.
It was during the qualifying session last year at Budapest when Massa was driving his Ferrari, that a spring that weighed more than a kilogram broke free from Rubens Barrichello’s car and flew towards Massa, striking him on his helmet. The Ferrari driver was knocked unconscious right then and he slammed his car into the tyre wall. Massa was quickly put into a helicopter and rushed to the Budapest's AEK military hospital, where he was induced into coma. At the time of his accident, his 5 month pregnant wife and father were back home in Brazil and were quickly flown to Hungary. Doctors, after operating on him for hours, came out and told the media that Massa was out of mortal danger but it would take some time for him to recover. There was a fear that he may lose one of his eyes after the accident, and the fact that the injury was to the head led to fears of all sorts of worst scenarios. The Brazilian spent 9 days in recovery, and a metal plate was installed in his head to help his fractured skull stay stable.
Felipe Massa said that he feels very lucky to be alive and 100% fit. He said that this weekend will be a special race for him. The 29 year old made it clear that he has no nerves about making his way on the same track again, and would put on a great show.
Massa said that once he gets to the circuit, the first people he would want to meet would be the Marshals and the medical staff who literally saved his life. He said they took no time in taking him out of the damaged car’s cockpit.
Massa said that he stayed in the hospital for more than a week, and during that time, he was treated like a king. He added that he got to know a lot of people over there during his recovery period and would love to meet them again. He said that the incident was unfortunate, but the upside is that he has a lot more fans in Hungary now that would come out to support him.
Massa said that the accident had changed his life, and now he looks at everything in a whole different perspective. He reiterated that this does not mean that he has lost any of the fearlessness or agility on the track. Massa said that he values life more than he used to, and lives every day with a smile on his face. He said that he saw the birth of his first child 4 months after the accident, and that made him feel even luckier to be alive.
Massa ended by saying that everything put aside, this is still a race weekend, and he would once again go all out and test his Ferrari to the limits.
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