Ex-Formula 1 driver and double CART champion Alex Zanardi has undergone more surgery after his handcycling accident in June, and is receiving cognitive and motor rehabilitation according to the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan.
Multiple Paralympic gold medalist Zanardi was involved in a crash with a large vehicle while competing in a relay race on his hand cycle in Pienza, and arrived in hospital with “major facial cranial trauma, a smashed face, and a deeply fractured frontal bone (forehead)”.
The 53-year-old underwent three surgeries and was released from intensive care to a specialist rehabilitation centre at the Valduce Hospital, but was rushed back into care a month after the accident on July 24.
In an update issued on Thursday, the San Raffaele Hospital confirmed that Zanardi has had another craniofacial reconstruction surgery.
It also said that during the cognitive and motor rehabilitation, Zanardi responded to visual and acoustic stimuli, but the doctors added it is premature to make any predictions on the longer-term outcome.
Zanardi is set for another surgery, overseen by Pietro Mortini, Director of Neurosurgery, in the coming weeks.
