Robert Kubica injures leg in fall

Bernie is a sly old fox and he could possibly be working on one as we speak, I would buy it.

 

He'll be glad to hear that as he's a bit short on cash

 

Well I heard through the grapevine that he is holding some $23 billion in cash for some Nigerian Prince until he can safely escape to the UK.

 

If anyone can out scam a Nigerian Prince...

 

I'd buy it too but only if he came clean on the whole train robbery thing.

 

According to the excellent book, "I'm No Angel", he asked one of the people associated with the Train Robbery an invitation to the Brasilian GP in order to make it look like he had something to do with it.

 

That's rich. Kind of a double entendre. He was part of the train robbery, that's how he made his money.

 

Andreas, who knows with Bernie, but I personally like the guy. I like what he says about Vettel as well.

 

I didn't say I don't like him.

If he pulled off the robbery all the more power to him

 

Latest news are now speculations on what caused Kubica's leg to break:

The official version is that he slipped on ice around his house, but at the day of the "accident" it was a balmy 50 F (5 C). So people are now wondering whether we're actually looking at something worse here: Like a badly "healed" fracture that required further surgery.

 

Not sure how the fall story is preferable.

 

Yup. Either way you look at it, nothing but bad news translating into no F1 test this year either.

 

The best comfort is that in earlier times he might not have even survived.

 

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97044

Not much of a silver-lining in that cloud.

 

Indeed.

Nerve regrowth?
I'm not doctor, but that sounds like Science Fiction to me.

 

Agreed. He's lucky to be alive.

Not science fiction. The nerve cell is actually in your spinal cord, with little tendrils that extend to the point of innervation. When you severe a peripheral nerve, everything dies from the point of injury distally, such as from a forearm injury down to your hand, but the nerve cell is still alive and in contact with your brain.

When they reconstruct, they reapproximate the ends of the damaged nerve. It will attempt to regrow those extensions, and if the surgeon can line of the old nerve sheath (sorta like insulation on a wire) then the nerve will regrow down the old sheath and over time function can be restored. It's very delicate surgery and the extent of recovery cannot be known until the cell has had time to regrow.

If they don't line it up right, the nerve doesn't know where it is supposed to go, so you don't recover function.

 

Fascinating stuff.

How much of this is "new technology" only possible with today's instruments?

I'm thinking about Nannini, whose lower arm was severed in his helicopter crash. It was a clean cut (unlike the tearing/shredding Kubica went through) and it happened right at his home (he was trying to land in front of his party guests...). They put the arm immediately into an ice bag and rushed it and him to the hospital, where it was reattached, yet he never gained enough control to drive F1 again.

If that accident happened today, would the chances be better thanks to the advancements in neurology?

 

I have no information about the surgical procedures to help with the nerve regrowth, but I can add that after a dog bite on my wrist, I lost feeling in about 1/2 of the right hand. Movement and everything else was fine, but it was, for all intents and purposes, numb. Over time, I have regained near full feeling without surgery...or even going to see a doc.

Mark

 

I am no neurosurgeon, for sure, so I don't have all the details. But certainly we are better at imaging (they use microscopes in surgeries like this - you can't see this stuff with the naked eye) and I am pretty sure there is some use of robotics with microsurgery to allow a "steady hand" at incredibly small levels.

But every case is different, and the smallest thing can impact success. You are right that with a clean cut things are possible that you simply cannot do with a nasty laceration or crush injury. But keep in mind the dexterity that is required for driving in F1 - you are asking for a lot more than just regaining use of the hand for drinking a cup of Joe or signing your name...

Here's an analogy: say you are rewiring your car. With this kind of thing, you just blindly cut the wires and then shove them back in the housing, hoping the right wire goes to the right place. You have a lot better chance of getting it right if you cut the wire to the O2 sensor. Cut the 88 lead wire to the motronic...not so much. With the human body it is a little better because you can retrain your control to some degree, sorta like swapping some wires at the plug.

Oh, and remember that none of this is possible with spinal cord injuries, because that's where the actual nerve cells live. Once they die, that's it (at least so far).

 

Hahaha Nice..

 

I'm glad you liked it. I actually thought it was wrong: The roles should be reversed.



Oh, here we go again.

 

Read an update on Kubica and it is not good:

More people are doubting he will ever be back. The main problem remains the right wrist which doesn't allow him to turn the hand.

 

The longer the recovery takes, the more forgotten he becomes and the bigger the gamble becomes for any team considering him.

As I've said before: F1 is a cruel mistress!

 

Bad news indeed. If its structural (the way the bones have knit) that's all she wrote I fear.
It's a shame but it could have been much worse.

 

Well, I guess the lone bright side is he still has legs to walk on.... it could have been worse.