Rome (AFP)
Very seriously injured Friday in a handbike accident, the Italian Paralympic champion Alex Zanardi was Saturday morning "in a stable state", according to the Italian press agencies, while the emotion and the concern are very strong in the country .
According to Ansa and Agi, two Italian press agencies, the state of health of Zanardi, hospitalized in intensive care in Siena (Tuscany, center) remained stable during the night. A new medical bulletin is scheduled for the morning.
Seriously hit in the head, Zanardi (53 years old) underwent neurosurgery and maxillofacial surgery on Friday evening which lasted three hours.
"The patient has been transferred to intensive care, the prognosis is reserved. His condition is very serious," said the hospital.
Zanardi was participating in a stage of the "Objectif Tricolore" relay in Tuscany when he "lost control" of his handbike, "rolled over two times and then crashed into a truck. The collision was terrible," said Mario. Valentini, coach of the Italian disabled cycling team, at the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera.
Saturday morning, the emotion was very strong in Italy and even as the football championship must resume in the evening after three months of interruption, the three sports daily of the country devoted their front page to the former Formula 1 driver.
- "Do not give up" -
"Alex's drama", headlines the Gazzetta dello Sport in full screen. "No Alex, no!" Writes the Corrierre dello Sport, while Tuttosport headlines "Alex, Italy!"
Numerous sportspeople, artists and politicians have sent messages of support to the man who had his legs amputated in 2001 after a terrible accident during a car race on the German circuit of the Lausitzring.
"Courage Alex, don't give up. All of Italy is fighting with you," wrote head of government Giuseppe Conte.
"Fight as you know how to do it, Alex. You are a very big man, courage," said Charles Leclerc, the Monegasque driver of the F1 Ferrari team, in Italian.
"Courage Alex. Fuck, now you have to give it your all," wrote swimmer Federica Pellegrini, one of the biggest stars in Italian sport.
A true standard-bearer of disabled sports worldwide, Zanardi obtained after his accident in 2001 four gold medals and two silver medals at the Paralympic Games in 2012 and 2016, added to ten world titles, all conquered on a bicycle at hand.
© 2020 AFP