Sir Jackie’s toes cut off and then reattached... 50 years after injuring his foot in F1 races
DURING his illustrious and dangerous motorsport career, Scots racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart suffered injuries ranging from cracked ribs to broken wrists.
But the Formula One champion, now 81, has revealed that an operation to his right foot to repair years of damage from racing has been his most painful experience.
The agonising surgery last month involved detaching and realigning all five toes.
Sir Jackie, who won 27 races and three world championships, said: ‘It’s sensitive, put it that way. The doctor cut the big toe and the four others all in two pieces and put them all together in the right place.
‘They said it would take seven days before I could walk properly. It’s painful…the most painful thing I’ve ever had because your weight is all on your foot.’
But in an interview for podcast In The Pink, he added: ‘I’m a married man. I’m used to pain.’
Sir Jackie has been recuperating at his home in Switzerland with his wife Lady Helen, 79, who suffers from dementia and requires round-the-clock care.
He said: ‘My left foot is in great shape but my right foot had been abused because it had to do a lot of work in its day.’
Last year, Sir Jackie, from Milton, Dunbartonshire, spoke movingly of his wife’s battle with dementia and revealed that she now remembers very little of their 58 years together.
The grandmother of nine – eight boys and one girl – has trouble walking and requires the help of two live-in nurses.
Her illness has prompted Sir Jackie into perhaps the last great fight of his life – to help find a cure for her condition.
He set up the global charity Race Against Dementia in 2018 – four years after Lady Helen was diagnosed.
Sir Jackie, who won his championships in 1969, 1971 and 1973, believes the worlds of F1 and motorsport could hold a key to finding a cure for dementia, as the industries are home to ‘fast problem-solving skills’.