I haven't been on this site in a long time but I'm going to change that. Here is my update on how my 2015 year is going. It started off great practicing in January and February, but March was a whole different story. It changed my entire year pretty much. I was racing in St. Petersburg Florida in the first round of the championship in the Pro Mazda Series.
I'm pretty sure something broke on the right front suspension and it put me hard into the concrete wall on the exit. This was close to one of the fastest corners on the track. It was a flat out, 3rd gear corner going just under 100 mph. It was a tremendous hit to the wall. I wasn't knocked out but I dont remember much from that day or leading up to the next 2 weeks. (I'll get to that part in a second)
From what I've been told by my team and dad who just happened to come to this race is that I was alert and talking. I even transferred out of the race car that was destroyed all on my own power. I ended up going to the emergency room because my left leg was bleeding pretty bad. I went to get a few tests done like a cat scan and X-ray and when I came back I just stopped breathing. They found out I had severe trauma and bruising to both lungs. I also broke my left pelvis and left femur. It was much worse then we all though.
I ended up getting a rod put in my femur. They also had me under very similar to an induced coma to let the lungs rest. I woke up two weeks later but I could barely breath. It was one of the hardest things I've had to do in my life it seems like. It improved everyday but with lots of oxygen and medicine. I ended up leaving that Sunday, so a total of 3 weeks in the hospital.
Once I was home, doing the simple tasks like getting from my bed to my chair, the shower, getting into my car...it was like I was relearning how to do it all. My strength was gone. I have been building it up slowly and it has been getting really good now. I have been working with my trainer just about everyday for 2-3 hours at a time trying to get back to where I was at. I'm very close!
I'm also back racing which is a huge accomplishment for what I have been through. I'm still working on getting my confidence back up but its coming slowly. I'm also getting used to the space car the team had since mine was completely destroyed. I have two more races left in Monterey California and then I start working on everything for next year!
I'll keep everyone updated on how things go in the next couple of weeks! I'll attach a few photos as well!
--Michael
