Replies to post #3534 on Cars, etc. (GEARHEAD)

[OldAIMGuy]

Hi Bob, Here's the latest on da Matta's recovery. Sounds pretty darned good after being in a coma for most of a month since the accident:

"Ever since Cristiano da Matta began coming out of the coma he suffered Aug. 3 during Champ Car's open test at Elkhart Lake, Dr. Chris Pinderski has remained cautiously optimistic.

But Wednesday afternoon Champ Car's medical director he sounded downright thrilled with Shorty's progress.

"Cristiano is doing great and although he's still got a long way to go, I think he's turned the corner," said Pinderski from Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah, Wis.

"He's communicating in two languages, Portugese and English, and he recognizes his mother, father and brother. He calls his girlfriend by her name so everything is looking really good."

The 2002 CART champion suffered a near-fatal head injury after being struck by a deer on Aug. 3 during a test at Elkhart Lake, Wis. Quick response by the Champ Car safety team and Pinderski, coupled with neuro surgery within two hours of the accident, gave da Matta a chance to survive.

Since then, the popular driver known as "Shorty" has come out of his coma and made steady progress, which really acclerated the past week.

"I asked Cristiano which team he drove for and he immediately began talking and engineers and wings," said Pinderski. "So he's thinking in auto racing terms, even though he's still pretty confused, it's excellent progress.

"He's also walking around and, hopefully, next week we'll get him into a rehabilitation hospital."

It's expected da Matta will eventually be transferred to his Miami home to continue rehab under the watchful and friendly eyes of fellow competitors and countrymen Bruno Junqueira, Oriol Servia, Christian Fittipaldi and Tony Kanaan."

Best regards, Tom