333pg333

Doesn't seem to be much said/asked about how the spring just 'fell' off a F1 car without any prior contact going on in front of Massa. Springs just don't fall off cars let alone such hi-tech things as these. Seems odd.
2lbs at that pace is mind boggling to consider.
no pun intended.

Looks like he's going to be ok which is great news.

Flying Finn

Indeed!

They did a CT scan and he has no brain damage.
Doctors woke him up from the coma when his family arrived this morning but they then put him back to coma and will kepp it that was for two more days.

Still in dangerous condition obviously but all the signs are good that he will be 100% ok and back in business fairly soon. Will miss a race or two but not the rest of the season.

mdrums

^ Finn this a excellent news! Prayers out to the whol Massa family that Phillipe will be back home and in perfect shape very soon.

early_grayce

Great news
Source??

smlporsche

WOW !
Saw the impact yesterday and it made me duck out of instinct.
The picture posted by Finn showed how lucky he really was. If that impact was an inch lower...

Godspeed Philipe.

RSA333

I pray for him.

CT scans can only detect major brain injury. They are not clear-cut in a case like this. MRI is better, but the brain's reponse to blunt trauma can often take days to emerge - that's why they are keeping him in a coma-like state. Let's wait to see the full extent of the injuries.

caf

Exactly. WAY too early to predict a prognosis. I read he has not only a frontal facial fracture, but a basilar skull fracture as well. Is so, I can't imagine they would let him come back to race for at least a few months. And again, I'd be worried about that left eye also.

Hopefully everything will be OK.

ltc

May I ask where you read this?

A diagnosis of BSF is very interesting in an impact such as this, given what I believe to be the limited aft displacement possible in an F1 cockpit, even given the energy of the impact. Perhaps the displacement was possible due to the deformation of the padding behind the driver's helmet?

In this scenario, the HANS is essentially useless.

daigo

The Basilar skull fracture is somewhat concerning from my limited knowledge. I understand there could be spinal nerve damage from such an injury. I would imagine even the slightest nerve damage would effect his career.
Our prayers out to him that he comes out ok.

APKhaos

Take a look at the forward deflection at the point of impact with the tire wall. The video frames around impact appear to show that his head deflects foward to a very sharp impact with the steering wheel. The combination of harness and HANS does not seem to have performed to expectations in this case, which may have contributed a second and significant insult in addition to the impact of the spring.

ltc

I didn't see the impact with the tire wall.
I am assuming he was semi conscious and went straight in.
The HANS, even in its current design, should have no problems with a straight (no off axis components) impact into a tire wall however.
Another item to be investigated. I am sure the FIA will request all telemetry from the McLaren Microsoft ECU for analysis.

wanna911

Anyone know the difference between comatose state and normal anesthetic unconciousness? Why did they need to put him in a coma, and how can you be sure that they can take him in and out of one? I've heard it's been done before, just looking for some explanation.

jmreiser

Sure, they do it with Bernie and Max all the time

See http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/7/9677.html for the latest... "Positive scan outcome for Massa"... though as noted just above it is still a "wait & see", cautious optimism.

fapena

Wanna911,

A comatose state is the result of a brain not working properly for many possible reasons.

The drug induced coma is to take advantage of having the brain at idle speed. It reduces demands of blood supply and therefore metabolism and the need for recovery is less. Let's say that the brain can focuse on getting better and fixing damage versus using energy to function and make us say stupid things (at least on my case). Along with the coma induced state there is also room to play with the breathing of the patient to avoid swelling of the brain and a bunch of other things. Overall, it is a good precautionary, or needed, thing to do. Can you guarantee 100% that once you stop the drugs the patient will wake up? No. Is it likely that he will, yes.

And having said that, I have no idea of the details of Massa's injury. Just reading the same stuff you guys are.

FAP

amaist

Medically induced coma is very often done to control a brain injury.

All bodily functions slow down in a coma and most importantly the brain is not doing much of anything. Even breathing is assisted by a machine.

If the brain would have been fully functional it would have tried to respond to the injury. It would swell. Unfortunately there is a limited amount of room inside the cranium and if the brain keeps swelling it will die. Thus the need to induce the coma.

This is why you always should go to the hospital ASAP if you bump your head in any significant way. Your brain may start swelling and if caught in time you will be fine. If the response is too slow you can either die or come out like you had a bad stroke. Look up the Natasha Richardson case. She was offered timely help but refused and went to the hotel room. Fatal mistake.
Many people actually die like that.

All this open wheel carnage makes me want an open cockpit car (Radical, Atom, etc.) less and less.

I wish Felipe a good recovery and hope he will be there to fully appreciate the birth of his son.