Hinchcliffe doesn’t remember accident

IndyCar safety team rescued Canadian driver

With his trademark self-deprecating humour, James Hinchcliffe jokes that he received “a complete oil change” after his accident during preparations for the Indianapolis 500.

All kidding aside, the IndyCar driver recognizes he’s lucky to be alive.

Hinchcliffe suffered a life-threatening leg injury May 18 when a piece of his suspension broke during a crash and pierced his leg. IndyCar’s safety crew had to act quickly to extract him from the car and pump him with more than 14 pints of blood as they raced him in an ambulance to an Indianapolis hospital.

Hinchcliffe, who was in critical condition when he was rushed into emergency surgery, said Wednesday he has no memory of the race to save his life.

“I’m not sure if it’s some sort of defence mechanism or biology taking over — despite being conscious throughout the whole process, I have mercifully been spared any memory of the accident whatsoever,” said the native of Oakville, Ont. “Even the first couple of days at the hospital are a bit of a blur. I remember waking up in ICU, knowing that obviously I’d had an accident, that I was somewhere I probably shouldn’t be.”

It wasn’t until he’d been moved from ICU several days later and family members recounted that day that Hinchcliffe realized “just how serious the injuries were and how very close it was to being a different story.”

“That was a first time I had an appreciation of the severity of the situation,” he said.

He’s watched the video of the wreck multiple times. It began with a spin that led to a hard crash into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway wall. Many observers have said if not for a steel-and-foam energy absorbing wall, Hinchcliffe would not have survived that initial impact.

“It’s fascinating and terrifying all at the same time,” he said. “I still have a lot of questions about the day because I don’t remember it. I’m the luckiest unlucky guy.”

Hinchcliffe was not hurt in the collision, which ripped off one side of his car and sent his Honda into a lazy spin that briefly caused the car to turn on its side. His injuries came from a piece of the suspension that went through his upper left thigh and caused massive blood loss. He also suffered a fractured pelvis.

Hinchcliffe, who was released from the hospital May 26, doesn’t know when he’ll race again.