Lance Stroll shares the amazing story of his MIRACLE recovery

Lance Stroll

Lance Stroll shares the amazing story of his MIRACLE recovery

Aston Martin star somehow made it back for the Bahrain GP

Stuart Hodge

Wednesday 8 March 2023 08:57

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Lance Stroll has shared for the first time the full details of his MIRACLE recovery from injury to drive in Sunday's season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

The 24-year-old Canadian suffered significant injuries in a pre-season biking accident on Saturday February 18 - just 15 days before lights out in Sakhir.

But somehow, against massive odds, he made it back. Leading team-mate Fernando Alonso to exclaim "you're my hero" after Lance claimed P6 on Sunday evening.

Lance Stroll charts amazing recovery from injury

Stroll went into detail about his ordeal in a social media post released on Tuesday evening, which first of all explained the injuries he sustained in that accident.

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He revealed: "The scans showed I had a fracture and displacement in my right wrist, a fracture in my left wrist, a partial fracture in my left hand and finally another fracture in the big toe on my right foot."

Not surprisingly the odds were now stacked against Stroll behind in the Aston Martin AMR23 for the start of practice in Bahrain on Friday.

Stroll went on: "With the beginning of the season right around the corner the timing could not have been worse. My medical team, at first, believed I was not only going to miss testing, but realistically the first few races."

Lance though refused to give up hope after having surgery on his right wrist some 48 hours after the accident.

"Following surgery, Dr. (Javier) Mir told me I’d be back for Jeddah if I worked hard and with a bit of luck he was optimistic I could race in Bahrain - but that was a faint possibility. To this day I am convinced the urgency Dr. Mir showed to me helped get me to Bahrain.

"The work wasn’t done. Unfortunately, Dr. Mir explained that the fractures in my left hand/wrist and toe weren’t suitable for fixation, and that I’d need to rely on a more conservative approach to heal my other injuries.

"My medical team ensured we were doing anything and everything that showed some evidence for bone healing. It became my full time job, trying to combine everything that could help, even if it was by 0.5%.

"Initially progress was slow - I needed a lot of help even with daily tasks at home.

Painful and painstaking rehab gets Stroll to start line

"But each day got better and once the cast came off on day 4 it became possible we had a chance of racing in Bahrain. My medical team devised a programme that would help me restore mobility and strength in my wrists."

Now Stroll had hope, and amazingly Bahrain was no longer an impossible dream. But it would require huge effort and determination.

"Rehab required hard work and persistence - but with an incredible medical team and my friends and family supporting me - I was able to push through the pain and get back on track in Bahrain with my team and fellow drivers.

"And we did it!!!"

You can watch Lance's journey from agony to ecstasy in the social media clip below, and not surprisingly it brought huge praise from the F1 community.

His team-mate Alonso and Sky Sports F1 presenter Natalie Pinkham both responded with "phenonemal" while Alpine's Pierre Gasly described Lance as a "warrior".