Maria de Villota - How She Survived F1 Crash

Here is an article in English about this brave Formula One driver's severe injuries. She must be the toughest person in all of sports (and with the best occuloplastic and neurosurgeons). The right side of her skull is blasted into little pieces from the impact and somehow she's alive. The end of the article is uplifting. It's nice to hear she's had so much love from her fans.

How woman survived brutal Formula One crash

By Raphael Orlove | Jalopnik – Wed, Nov 7, 2012 5:57 PM EST

 

Above is an MRI image of Maria de Villota's skull after she crashed the Formula One car she was testing into the back of one of the team's trailers in early July. She lost her right eye and her senses of taste and smell, and may never race again. But she survived and is opening up about what happened.

De Villota, 32, made headlines back in March when she joined the Marussia F1 team as a test driver. In her first test, however, she completed one lap of the circuit and then her car "suddenly accelerated" into the back of a truck.BBC presenter Chris Mann witnessed the crash: "The top of her car and her helmet seemed to take the brunt of it," he said...

 

...Back to Racing

She still has some surgery ahead of her. As of now she has lost some cranial matter and suffers from headaches that may last years or never go away at all. Amazingly, she still wants to get back into driving.It is not a question of desire; the loss of her eye is the deciding factor. She pointed out that there are some drivers who have lost an eye who still have racing licenses here in America.

While she will never be a top-level F1 driver, de Villota still hopes to contribute to testing safety. She may even have a chance to participate in aero testing in the future.De Villota appears to be on track for a full recovery. She has been smiling, and she looks healthy. Her eye patch has not dampened her enthusiasm.“When I saw myself I thought, 'Who is going to love me looking like this?'” she said. “But since then I've realized they have loved more than in a whole life. I have enough love to cover this life and the next.”

 

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Maria's FB fan page: https://www.facebook.com/MARIADEVILLOTA