It may not be the fastest recovery in the motor world, but it is the one that has attracted the most attention in recent weeks. First thing, because in just 14 days Stroll He has gone from needing “a lot of help even with daily tasks at home” to competing in Bahrain and later, due to all the repercussions that each movement that follows one another in Aston Martin following the arrival of Fernando Alonso. The Silverstone team is in the spotlight like never before, largely thanks to the presence of the two-time champion, but the feat of a driver who with two fractured wrists and a third in the big toegot on the AMR23 and left it in sixth position after 57 laps which, together with the Friday and Saturday practices, made it a grand prix and, at the same time, that preseason that the Canadian could not have.
On February 18, Stroll suffered a bicycle accident while preparing the start of the course and the scanners confirmed the worst omens: there had been major injuries “at the worst possible time”. Not much was said about it when the Canadian’s withdrawal was announced or during the grand prix, but after completing the feat the Aston Martin driver decided it was time to do it. He had a hard time accepting the news: “My medical team believed that I would not only miss the tests, but also the first races.” But 48 hours later everything changed completely: “12 days before the first race, Dr. Xavier Mir operated on my right wrist. After the surgery he told me that he would come back in Jeddah if I worked hard and hopefully he was optimistic that I would be able to race in Bahrain, but it was a long shot. However, that fate of which he speaks sided with him along with all the subsequent work, so that Lance could open the season with the rest of the grill.
for the canadian “Dr. Mir’s operation helped me get there” and although in the rest of the fractures it was necessary to opt for “a more conservative approach” in terms of recovery, Stroll’s medical team “made sure everything went well.” The day to day of the Aston Martin driver became a fight against the clock in a completely different way than usual and the recovery “became my full-time job, trying to combine everything that could help (to improve) even if it was 0.5%”. “Initially progress was slow, but every day it got better and once we got the cast off on day four, that’s when the opportunity to compete in Bahrain became possible,” says Lance. He got it thanks to “a rehabilitation that required a lot of work and persistence, but with an incredible medical team” to whom he thanks, like so many others, all the support he received in two weeks where the miracle was done.
“Just phenomenal”
Stroll’s thanks were not limited to the medical team that accompanied him throughout this process. The Canadian also remembered the “support from my friends and family”, which he also received in the same Instagram post where he told his story. There was no shortage of his partner, Fernando Alonso, who with a brief message said it all: “Just phenomenal.” But beyond the teammate, other motor stars also applauded the heroism of a driver who for Quartararo is a “legend”. Because as it reminded you Carlos Sainz, “hard work always pays off”. More obvious, impossible.