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Alex Zanardi is awake and talking after coming out of his artificially induced coma, his doctors have said.

Doctors are very encouraged by the progress made by the Italian, who had both legs amputated following his horrendous crash at the Lausitzring last Saturday.

Zanardi remains heavily sedated and faces more surgery on Friday to inspect and clean his wounds. He still does not know that he has lost his legs but his wife Daniela will tell him shortly.

CART doctors Terry Trammell and Steve Olvey have said that there was no chance of saving Zanardi’s legs and that he is lucky to still be alive.

Trammell told ESPN.com: "It was horrible. And it was like a bomb blast because his legs were gone and everything was in small fragments, so it was apparent there was no chance of reattachment.

"Both femoral arteries were ruptured and Alex was bleeding profusely. He was in big trouble."

Zanardi’s condition was so critical that he was airlifted straight to a Berlin hospital, rather than taken to the circuit medical centre or nearby Dresden.

"At best, it was 50/50 whether he would be alive when he got to Berlin," Trammell said.

Added Olvey: "The ICU doctors told us that in another 10-15 minutes, they wouldn't have had a chance to save him."

Zanardi has been sent a get well soon message from F1 star Luciano Burti.

The Brazilian, who is convalescing after a heavy crash of his own, told his website: "Zanardi always was a good driver. I remember seeing him in F1 races when I was just starting my motor racing career.

"That kind of accident where effects are horrible for the driver, strongly disturbs the emotional side of all the motor racing professionals. Zanardi, I am rooting for you to recover as soon as possible."

Meanwhile, the man who Zanardi hit, Alex Tagliani, wants to get back to racing as soon as possible.

He told the BBC: "There is never five minutes when I do not think about Alex. I can't wait to get back into the car because at least then I can stop thinking about the accident."


bron itv-f1.com

Zanardi dus uit z'n coma, enkel weet hij nog niet dat z'n benen eraf zijn....
Zou hij het niet zien ? Of is dat nog altijd dat 'fantoom'-gevoel dat ze er wel zijn ?

In ieder geval vind ik Alex Tagliani's reactie wel vreemd: Na zo'n verschrikkelijke crash direct terug willen racen...
Ik zou nooit meer in een racewagen stappen moest ik zoiets meegemaakt hebben...