ROME - Former racing driver and Paralympic champion Alex
Zanardi spent a third night in hospital with "stable" clinical
parameters but his life remains at risk, doctors said Monday.
"We are very happy" as "even last night, neuro-monitoring showed
stable parameters," intensive care unit director Sabino Scoletta told
the SkyTg24 news channel.
However, "this information must be taken very cautiously because
there can be even sudden [negative] changes in a serious neurological
situation," he added.
Former Formula One driver Zanardi, 53, suffered major head injuries
on Friday after crashing against an oncoming truck during a handcycle
relay event on the road between the Tuscan villages of Pienza and San
Quirico.
He remains sedated, intubated and supported by artificial
ventilation, the Santa Maria alle Scotte hospital in Siena said in a
Monday bulletin.
He is an induced coma, under intensive care, and in his interview,
Scoletta noted that "the life of a patient in intensive care is
always is danger."
He confirmed that doctors would consider "in the coming hours, but
perhaps I should say in the coming days" whether to pull Zanardi out
of his coma to better assess his condition.
Zanardi is known for his never-give-up attitude.
He switched from car racing to paracycling after losing both both
legs in a CART Championship crash at the German EuroSpeedway Lausitz
race track in 2001.
He won four gold and two silver medals at the 2012 and 2016
Paralympics and was to race at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, which was
delayed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.