Interview with Davey Hamilton

[KC]

All inter series bias aside, no one wants any driver to be injured while raicng. I hope that racing fans have respect for all the drivers, jobs they do and dangers they all face

Bob Jenkins Interviews Davey Hamilton

Indianapolis, Ind., July 13 — We don’t normally reprint press releases here, but this one that we received from the Indy Racing League seemed fit for a total reprint.

The following is an interview between veteran racing announcer Bob Jenkins and long-time driver Davey Hamilton. The driver was severely injured in a crash nearly six weeks ago and has been in an Indianapolis hospital since. He undergone numerous surgeries on his feet and lower extremities and this interview is the first with him since the accident.

Bob Jenkins: The most obvious question is, Davey, how the heck are you?

Hamilton: I'm doing all right. It's been a change of life. I'll tell you that. It's something I never thought I'd be going through as a racing driver, but you got to play with what you got dealt. We're doing OK. The doctors, thank God, I've got (Kevin) Scheid and (Terry) Trammell and all the people that rebuilt my feet. I'm going to be fine. It's just a lot of time ahead of me.

Jenkins: Let's go back to that day. What, if anything, do you remember about that accident or anything that happened that night?

Hamilton: Unfortunately, I remember it all. I was coherent through the whole thing. I remember trying to pass Jeret (Schroeder) several times. I got close to him, and it washed the front end out a little bit. I thought, 'No big deal.' It was early in the race, and we were just going to ride a little bit. I got on the outside and just hung outside for about 10 laps, just slowly gaining on him. Going through Turn 2, I looked down and saw he blew an engine. I knew I was in a little bit of trouble. When I'm on the outside of a guy that just blew an engine, it's usually not good. I tried to get by him. I tried to stay on the throttle and get by him to try to avoid it, but it's just not quite enough room. I remember hitting the wall. I, actually, don't remember getting up in the chain-link fence or any of that. I remember spinning around a lot and landing on the racetrack, sliding down in the infield and just being in a lot of pain. I didn't know the severity of the injuries. I knew I broke my legs. I just didn't know they were as bad as they were. That's the time I wished I had that hammer to go ahead and knock me on out, because it wasn't fun after that. I remember the whole thing. Everybody thought I threw my steering wheel off, but that was actually my neck collar so I could try to get my helmet off. The steering wheel was stuck on. I went through a lot of emotion and a lot of pain at that point, but I'm glad that is all behind me.

Jenkins: What happened after the actual crash? Do you remember getting in the ambulance?

Hamilton: I remember them getting me out of the car. There was a lot of screaming going on, I'll tell you that, on my part -- a lot of pain. I remember getting out of the car and in the ambulance and in the infield care center. I remember everything up to the helicopter. I got in the helicopter. I remember the door shutting. At that point, I was pretty much out until I showed up at Indianapolis. The best thing, I think, I ever saw was my wife and my dad and a friend of mine when I woke up. I saw all of them, and they were saying that I'm in Indianapolis, and they are going to make my feet OK. That is not what I heard at one point. I heard way worse.

Jenkins: When were you first told about how severe your injuries were?

Hamilton: When I was in the infield medical center at Texas, obviously in severe pain, and, like I said, a lot of screaming going on at that point, I heard them talk that it looked like I was going to be a double amputee. That is not a fun thing to hear when you think you are a healthy guy and you are going to race all your life in good health and not have anything like that happen to you. It's not something you want to hear, by any means. When I woke up, I thought they (his feet) probably weren't going to be there. Scheid, Trammell plus (skin doctors) Jones and Sando - a lot of doctors in Indianapolis - this is the place to be to get hurt. I just thank God they flew me here and got me with the best in the world.

Jenkins: When did you discover that things were beginning to look better?

Hamilton: It was pretty hectic. I went through six surgeries in, like, eight days. I was in and out a lot. I really can't remember the exact time of it. It was probably, like, the second week after the accident. I was somewhat coherent enough to realize I had a good opportunity to keep all my own parts even though they are modified pretty drastically. Obviously that is a good feeling. That just makes me want to work even harder to make sure that happens. We had a few little glitches on some skin grafts and things on the left foot that didn't take too well. And we had to go back in for another surgery just to try to save a big toe, actually. They did a great job. It's there. It's on, and it's looking good. So far I have everything I had when I went to Texas. Like I say, they are pretty modified.

Jenkins: So you know how lucky you are sitting here with both extremities?

Hamilton: Oh, absolutely. Not just that, but my life. The Indy Racing League does a great job on the rules packages. I think they are the safest cars out there. I really still feel that. It's just that it was a situation to where I got in there and got in the chain link and the way the poles were located and structured at that speedway, it hit the car at an odd angle, and it sheared the front of the car off. You know, that is not going to happen very often. That is an area where we never hit normally, where the construction of the cars aren't really made to hit that way. I'm very fortunate that I wasn't three feet farther forward because that would have been where my head is, and there is no way that at 210 miles and hour, which we were basically going, that a guy can survive that. We are very fortunate first of all to be here and second of all to have my own legs. It's going to be a long time. It's going to be a while before I can walk - a long while. But it sure is nice that I can pick my kids up and give my wife a kiss. From the knees up I'm great.

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