The American pilot Juan Manuel Correa, injured in the Formula 2 accident that cost the life of Frenchman Anthoine Hubert on August 31, was released from an artificial coma on Friday, his entourage announced in a statement.
His lungs are now the medical priority
Correa "is no longer under respiratory assistance," says one. "Juan Manuel is conscious but not fully awake, which may take a few days after being in an artificial coma for more than two weeks, according to the doctors." His health condition has been reassessed from "critical" to "serious". "The medical priority is now from his lungs (he has suffered from acute respiratory failure, ed) to his leg injuries that have not been treated since the emergency surgery on the day of the incident" says the entourage of the 20-year-old pilot, who remains in intensive care.
As soon as his lungs can handle it, Correa will undergo a "major surgery to minimize the risk of irreversible injury to his right lower limb." Correa, whose car hit Hubert's head on the circuit of Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium), was immediately treated with leg fractures and a minor injury to the spine. He had been placed in an artificial coma and undergoing respiratory assistance a week after the accident on 7 September.