No change in de Villota’s condition

2012 F1 season

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Maria de Villota continues to be in a “critical but stable” condition following the surgical operation she underwent yesterday, her family have confirmed.

De Villota suffered serious head and facial injuries including the loss of an eye after crashing while driving for Marussia in a straight-line aerodynamic test at Duxford Aerodrome on Tuesday.

Her sister Isabel issued the following statement via the team: “Maria remains in a critical but stable condition here at Addenbrooke’s Hospital.

“While there is no further news than that at present, we have at least been able to take encouragement from the fact that Maria has remained stable throughout since the accident, particularly during the first night following such a lengthy surgical procedure as she experienced yesterday.

“We, the family, are supporting each other here at Maria’s side and we take great comfort from the remarkable medical care she has been receiving. We remain positive and this is due, in no small part, to the overwhelming expression of love and support for Maria from every corner of the world.

“We would also wish to thank everyone at the Marussia F1 Team for all the care and attention they have shown us over the past few days.”

The statement was signed “With our sincere gratitude”.

2012 F1 season


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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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11 comments on “No change in de Villota’s condition”

  1. Someone tell me she is going to be okay..?

    1. She remains critical and at this stage there are no positive signs apart from being stable so to be honest, it’s tricky. She is hanging between surviving and succumbing.

    2. The doctors are being really cautious with their prognostics usually when they talk about the lenght of the coma situation it means they are sure they will be able to wake up the pacient, at least it was what i was told.

    3. Someone tell me she is going to be okay..?

      I don’t want to sound all negative. She is alive, thank goodness. But her carrier is ruined (try driving with one eye – forget about it), her face (the extent of which is yet to be determined) and subsequent elements associated with this (which I can think of about a hundred) in her life are ruined.

      I don’t think Marussia are going to get off that easy here. There will be questions; investigation will take place and possible court proceeding. Everything reflects back on the team. Weather its system fault, car did not meet safety requirements, and/or most importantly team negligence (which so far, stands out the most!). We will just have to wait and see what Maria says when she wakes up.
      As I’ve stated before, there are many elements: failing to follow proper risk assessment and safety procedures. That is risk management 101. There are courses devoted specifically for this kind of thing in the workplace.

      If it was driver’s error, there will be questions and action taken eitherway as it is teams responsibility to allow inexperienced or unqualified drivers to test. If that is the case, then FIA will need to look into this and impose changes to their rules.

  2. The doctors said they will keep her in an induced coma for about 2 days, so i guess no change is a positive then.

  3. I’ve been away and only just seen this. Horrible. I really hope that she will be okay in the long run. Addenbrookes is a fantastic hospital with an excellent record. I can vouch for that as they saved my life about 20 years ago.

    All my best goes out to her, her family, friends and the team.

  4. I have mixed feelings: I’m definitely glad she has not got worse, but I so much hoped she’d have improved…

    1. @fixy – The nature of her injuries means it will take some time for her to recover fully. The most important thing right now is that she remains stable. The longer she is stable, the better her prognosis is. Her doctors would probably be more concerned if she rapidly improved, because rapid improvement brings about instability, and instability means she could relapse.

      1. Yep, she needs rest and time. It allows the body to heal, So her being stable is probably the most important thing right now.
        As much as we would all like her to be up and back on her feet. Remember both Massa and Kubica’s accidents.

  5. This is not good news at all.

  6. Unfortunately this is to be be expected with any sort of head trauma. I’m positive she will pull through :)

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