The "reality" after the horror accident: the former DTM driver Wickens remains paralyzed

athletic

Friday, October 26, 2018

In August, longtime DTM rider Robert Wickens fell in an IndyCar race. After several operations, the bitter diagnosis is clear: the 29-year-old is paraplegic, the hope of a minimal improvement. Nevertheless, Wickens wants to fight.

Slowly and painfully, Robert Wickens lifts his well-worn and motionless legs in a wheelchair. Every move requires a lot of effort, every inch costs strength. All that was obvious before his terrible accident is now tormenting and full of difficulties. The short scene, presented in the Instagram account of the Canadian, brings a sad certainty. The former DTM pilot is paraplegic from the hip.

"Some people have irritated the severity of my injuries, so I wanted to inform you of the reality," he wrote at 29. "The top of my body is getting stronger and stronger, I just post videos of the slightest movement of my legs, but the reality is that I am far from walking alone."

Ten weeks have pbaded since the tragic accident of the American series IndyCar. In Pocono, Pennsylvania, Wickens collided with Ryan Hunter-Reay's vehicle. His car was running uncontrollably through the safety barrier and was losing its wheels and wings. Wickens has been operated on several times and fractures to the hands, arms and legs have been provided.

But the greatest concern was the fracture of the thoracic spine and the spinal cord injury, the severity of which was unpredictable. Wickens wants to fight and not surrender to his heavy fate. New DTM champion Gary Paffett recently called his former teammate "one of the strongest people I know of". Karli Woods, Wickens' girlfriend, is always on his side, on social networks, Canadians receive innumerable messages with constructive words.

"You give me strength and energy"

"Even though I can not answer everyone, you are giving me the strength and energy to do 20 times more than the ten cable reps required by the doctor," Wickens wrote: "I do not have to do it. I have never worked harder in my life, I give everything I have to stimulate those nerves in my legs. "Wickens, who drove the DTM for Mercedes from 2012 to 2017 and who has won six victories in 84 races, does not want sympathy. He hopes that someday, something normal will become again.

Normality without motorsport – a concept totally unthinkable a few weeks ago. Wickens, then 12 years old, competed for the first time in the karting race in 2001, then in 2005 to promote Formula BMW in the United States. Thus, after the jump in Europe, his career led him to the DTM. Fast and successful – but also refreshing on earth. So, Wickens has made a name for himself in the DTM, the Canadian has been one of the most popular and best drivers. The Pocono accident changed everything. But not the irrepressible will of Wickens to continue to fight.

Source: n-tv.de