Photo: FIA Formula 2
Sauber junior Juan Manuel Correa has detailed the extent of his recovery since his Formula 2 crash at Spa in a video on his Instagram account.
The Ecuadorian-American is currently still in hospital in London, having undergone lengthy surgery on his legs after being taken out of a coma.
“It’s been a very rough five weeks since the accident,” Correa said. “I never said it publicly, but I want to publicly give my deepest condolences to the Hubert family. It?s been a shock to everyone that such an accident happened.
?You never really think something like that can happen, and especially not to you, until it does. I?m just grateful to be here, even though obviously I still have a long road of recovery.
“It’s still uncertain if I will ever recover to a hundred per cent, but I am very grateful to be alive. I’m very grateful for the people that have been with me in these last five weeks. I’m very grateful for the family I have and the support they have given me. Without them I would not have made it. It’s that simple.
“This has really changed my life. The way I see things. The way I think about life and everything in general: it’s been a life-changing experience. And also I want to thank all of you guys. All the support, and the loving messages from people I don’t even know personally. I’ve read almost all of them.
“I’ve spent pretty much all day reading messages, trying to answer to as many people as possible, or at least like the comments. But I just want to tell you, I will read them eventually. There are thousands of them, so I don’t think I will get them all done in one day. But thank you so so much, because it means a lot to me.
“It is what it is. I have accepted what happened, and I can only be positive now and work as hard as possible for the fastest recovery possible, and the best recovery as well.
“The plan is to have another surgery next Monday, and that should be the last surgery here in London. Then after that, beginning of November, I should be travelling to Miami to see my siblings and to start my full-on recovery, which should last – according to the doctors here – they’re expecting to last between 10 months to a year, before I can start to really tell how the right foot really is. Because at the moment I have a metal frame that doesn’t let me move the foot at all. So it’s just healing, and that will be there for at least eight to 10 months.
“So we will see, we will see what happens. But, you know, I’m positive. There’s nothing else to do. I can either be here and feel sorry for myself and be depressed, or I can just get on with it, be positive and do the best I can for the recovery.”