FLORSCH IS SAVED FROM PARALYSIS AFTER SURGERY

THE painkillers were wearing off last night and Sophia Florsch felt every ache left by the 11 hours of surgery that followed her horrific crash in Macau on Sunday.

But the good news was that the 17-year-old German racing driver had been saved from paralysis by a team of doctors working a long shift inside the local hospital.

Four laps into Formula Three’s Macau Grand Prix, Florsch hit the back of rival Jehan Daruvala’s car. That launched Florsch over the inside kerb into the car of Sho Tsuboi.

This impact catapulted her 12 feet into the air, through the safety fence at 172mph and into a temporary platform for photographers.

Florsch’s father Alex, who was among the anxious spectators, told

Sportsmail: ‘Those 30 minutes after the crash were the hardest minutes of my life. I did not know what was going on.’

Florsch fractured her spine. And doctors, working slowly so as not to damage her spinal cord and cause paralysis, took bone from her hip to repair her seventh vertebrae. They later confirmed her vital signs were stable and all her limbs working.

‘The surgery went well,’ her father confirmed. ‘She is awake and things are going smoothly.

‘We have not yet spoken about whether she will race again but there is nothing I would do to stop her.’