• Racing in Abu Dhabi. "Hopefully the burns on my hands will heal"

  • Accident. The emotional letter from Grosjean's wife: "Thank you to our children, who got him out of the fire"

  • The miracle: from the protective halo to his 27 seconds between the flames

"I saw death very close. You cannot have lived through this and be the same person", admits to AFP

Romain Grosjean

, the French Formula 1 driver who suffered a very serious accident last Sunday at the Bahrain Grand Prix, this Wednesday at leave Sakhir hospital.

"Those 28 seconds seemed like a minute and a half, but it was not long because I was active at all times," recalls the Frenchman about the time he was surrounded by flames after his car broke in two and caught fire after crashing against a protective barrier as soon as the race begins.

Despite the severity of the accident, Grosjean suffered no serious injuries:

burns to both hands, a sprained left ankle and bruises on that side of the body

.

"It was not the most violent impact that I have suffered in my career, despite the 'Gs saying otherwise. The deceleration of 53G (53 times the weight of your body) had never suffered," explains Grosjean.

"Afterwards, I immediately take off my seat belt, I

try to get out of the car, but I realize that my helmet hits something

. I sit down again, I tell myself that I am blocked and that I have to wait."

"But to my left everything is orange and I realize that there is fire. I say to myself 'there is no time to wait, I'm going to try to get out on the right', but I can't. To my left I can't either. I sit down again" , continues the Haas team driver.

"

I think of Niki Lauda and I say to myself: 'I can't end like this, not now'

. I try again to go out, but I can't. I sit down again and I see death, not close, but very close," he adds before staying in silence, with the lost look and the voice that trembles: "It is a sensation that I do not wish it to anybody".

The image of his three children

"The body relaxes, the muscles, the head, everything.

I wondered where it was going to start to burn, if it was going to hurt, but I think it is a moment that allows the brain to process what is happening and try to find a solution

" .

Then the image of her three children comes to mind.

"I tell myself that I can't leave them and that's when I find a way to free my blocked foot, to turn my head, to pass my shoulders, to put my hands to get up knowing that I was going to burn, but that it was not serious."

"

When I put my foot on the barrier and go out it's a relief. I'm alive!

" Recalls the 34-year-old Frenchman.

"Without panic, I try to cool my hands by shaking them,

I take my gloves off because I didn't want them to stick to my skin

."

"The doctor asks me to sit down and talks to me, separating each syllable. It's the anecdote: I yell at him asking him to speak to me normally. He must have thought 'this one will never change!"

His left foot hurts and he thinks it's broken, but Grosjean tries to walk to the ambulance.

Despite being in a "state of 'shock'", Grosjean wants "the helicopter to take that image,

for the whole world to see that I am walking

."

"This will change my life"

After the accident, Grosjean admits that he was scared, not because of him, but "because of the outsiders", his family and friends.

Before arriving at the medical center, "I started shaking hard with the pain and shock."

At that moment, Jean Todt, president of the International Automobile Federation, arrives.

"Seeing familiar faces is priceless," says Grosjean, who at that time was also able to call his wife.

Grosjean is following all the doctors' instructions "to recover faster" and has already consulted the sports psychologist who has worked with him for years.

"

For now I do not have nightmares, thoughts, flashes or fears

, but that does not mean that it will not happen to me and it is for this reason that I will continue talking" with the psychologist.

If his left hand allows it, the pilot born in Geneva (Switzerland)

hopes to participate in the last grand prix of the season, Abu Dhabi

, on December 13 "to know where I am", regarding his recovery, both physical as well as mental.

Without a steering wheel for next season, it would probably be his last F1 race, although he will take some time to reflect on the future of his sports career.

"The limit that I impose on myself for the future is not the fear that it will happen to me again, but that my loved ones will not have to go through the same thing again.

A week ago, taking a sabbatical seemed impossible. Today, I tell myself I'm going to kitesurf, cycle, watch my kids, have fun, drink wine

. This will change my life forever. I'm happy to see everyone, even journalists ... And eat a hamburger, it's great! ", he concludes.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • sports

  • Formula 1

  • Romain grosjean

Formula 1 Grosjean's shocking account of the accident: "I wondered where I was going to start burning, if it was going to hurt."

F1Grosjean comes out alive in the flames after the most serious accident in recent F1 history

Formula 1The emotional letter from Grosjean's wife: "Thank you to our children, who took him out of the fire"

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