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Originally Posted by steveng
Interestingly I can only think of one racing death caused by acute aortic rupture (the injury described above). It was Ricardo Paletti back in the 80s. He hit the back of another car (? Patresse) at the start of a Grand Prix.
I have repaired quite a few of these over the years and I do not really understand the fact that some people die and some don't.
As you say, the heart swings like a bell clapper and causes a discontinuity of the aorta (the main artery coming from the heart). It either just tears off and the poor soul dies instantly or there is a partial rupture and the person has a couple of hours to live. This is where folk like me come in, we repair/replace the damaged segment. Sadly even in a sucessful repair the patient is often left paraplegic as the arteries to the spinal cord are damaged around the rupture.
It is a bit of a lottery. I have seen the injury in a bloke who was only nipping down to collect a carry-out curry when he hit a lamp post yet Ralf Schumacher didn't get hurt when he hit the wall at Indy. Avoidance of crashing seems like a good tactic but when that doesn't work, our necks remain the area to protect....
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OK, being a non-medical man, to get the best of all worlds (apart from not crashing) what about a large back protector, that looks like a Hans device at the top, but is attched to the body by a large boddice effort - probably a rubbish idea, but it may A) protect the back as designed B) give the neck the same protection as a conventional HANS device - as it's still linking the head to the body C) Would it help the internal organs holding them in place inside a boddice, or would that do nore damage ? also the boddice and back protector would significantly spread any load area ? - just a suggestion All I need to do is get the FIA to make them madatory, control who is allowed to make them, and sit back and watch the millions roll in - who knows - within a couple of years, I might be able to afford a Mclaren type fine !
p.s. I've just ordered a new tin hat which is pre drilled for hans posts. I thought it may be useful in the future when I may buy a Hans device. I checked out the cost of the hans posts ( two bolts with a couple of fancy washers - the site I saw them on, they were £120 plus vat plus postage etc etc - that was just for the bolts, not including fitting. I know things cost a lot to develop, but can anyone on this forum reply explaining that is not profiteering ?