ALMS Driver Jason Workman critically injured

[Piratedred]

ALMS driver Jason Workman was critically Injured yesterday at Moroso Raceway in West Palm Beach Fla. While driving an Ariel Atom, A strong storm front moved across the area. Jason pulled the car under the awning and while waiting for the storm to past, A gust of wind caught the awning. A 55 gallon drum of water holding down the awning was tossed into the air. The awning came down on Jason's head while still in the car. He has many broken bones and internal injuries. He is in a induced coma but he is stable.

I will try to update as I get more info but for now please keep Jason in your prayers.

Tony

[Dutton]

This is terrible news. Simply awful.

May he recover.

[Piratedred]

Sorry but it was the 55 gallon drum of water that landed on Jasons head. Luckily he was still wearing his helmet.

[Jonerz]

God bless and God speed Jason!

Chris

[HORNDAWG]

My thoughts and prayers are with Jason and his family.


L.P.

[Samoan Attorney]

I received these mails yesterday...................from Barton Workman

Just spoke with Jason Workman's mother Patricia...

Jason is at St. Mary's Hospital in West Palm Beach.

His condition, while grave with numerous broken bones in his upper body
and severe head injury, will be examined again this morning when they
do a CAT scan on him to determine the extent of his concussion, etc.

Jason did respond to doctors and nurses before being heavilly sedated as
is his condition currently. As usual in these cases, doctors will keep him
in a medically induced coma until the swelling subsides.

Injuries to Jason's upper body include broken shoulder blades, ribs and
arms, thus if he was awake, he would be in an extreme amount of pain.

I will be receiving further information from Jason's mother upon completion
of the CAT scan later this mornng but to let everyone know, Jason is stable
but being kept in a medically induced coma until doctors may determine the
extent of his head injuries.

Details of the incident are sketchy but from what we've gathered, Jason
was testing a development car for Chrylser at Moroso Motorsports Park
yesterday. As a cold front swept through South Florida, high winds and
heavy rains (especially in the West Palm Beach area) developed. As a
result, a water barrel used to hold a tent in place broke loose and blew
onto the track striking Jason's open-cockpit car.

An incredible development in the Jason Workman story...

As it turns out, Jason was an instructor for this weird car, http://www.arielatomexperience.com/
with a friend of mine named Tom McDermont.

Tom just called and told me the whole story. They were sitting in the car on pit lane waiting
to get the word to go under an umbrella when the weather began to turn bad. As they sat on
pit lane, the wind picked up a tent support in the form of a 55 gallon drum which landed in
the cockpit of the car, grazing Tom who was slightly injured but hitting Jason full on, cracking
his helmet.

Still waiting word on the results of the CAT scan on Jason.

Let's hope that Jason makes a full and speedy recovery

John Brooks

[chocmonster7]

It's terrible news, Jason is such a nice guy. Fingers crossed for a full recovery.

[GTfour]

Geezz! How can one be so unlucky?

Hope he recovers well.

[Samoan Attorney]

This news is in from my friend Barton Workman.

Quite an intense day yesterday with regard to the Jason Workman accident.
As it happens, another friend of mine, Tom McDermott, was in the car with
Jason when this incident occured at Moroso Motorsports Park near West Palm
Beach.

First, Jason's condition update. Jason has gotten a bit worse but doctors
advise this is normal as he will get worse before he gets better. His
mother, Patricia, is in West Palm Beach and keeping advised of the situation
at St. Mary's Hospital. Doctors further advise that Jason will pull through
however but until then he will be kept in a medically induced coma until
brain swelling subsides but there are also the numerous broken bones
to deal with so it will be a long, slow process.

Tom McDermott from Ft. Lauderdale was treated and released from St. Mary's
Hospital, called me about 2:00PM yesterday and had just been in touch with
the Ariel Atom Experience team which was running this event at Moroso
Tuesday.

The team theorizes now that it wasnt a 55 gallon drum that hit the cockpit,
grazing Tom and hitting Jason rather an aluminum support post from one of
the transporter's tents instead. In either scenario, a rather large piece
of metal grazed Tom who sustained some injuries (was treated and released
but still feeling it) and full on to Jason who was unconscious at the scene
and remains at St. Mary's Hospital in West Palm Beach.

In any case, what we know currently is Tom was in the driver's seat and
Jason in the instructor seat on the pit lane in this car, an Aerial Atom
(http://www.arielatomexperience.com/AAE2.aspx) when the
weather turned bad; there was some severe weather in South Florida
associated with a passing cold front on Tuesday.

As the wind picked up, evidently a tie down support from the transporter
tent was compromised and, as the theroy goes, either a 55 gallon water
drum or one of the aluminum support bars was flung out onto the pit lane
landing directly in the car. As there were no genuine witnesses to the
incident, no one really knows what happened for sure.

Unaware of what happened, Tom came to his senses and fearing fire, scrambled
out of the car and started calling for help and medics who found Jason
unconscious in the car with his helmet cracked.

Things like this have happened at Sebring in the past as an afternoon
microburst will cause a great downdraft that may lift up objects as heavy
as Co2 tanks (which are also commonly used as tent supports) which get
flung through the air knocking people over or landing on top of racing cars
so incidents like this are not unheard of.

And, after having spoken with Jason's manager Alex Graas, we agree that it
should become mandatory that teams utilize in ground anchors similar to
those used for small aircraft at airports to secure their transporter and
hospitality tents which is something all racing sanctioning bodies, teams,
motoring clubs and personel should consider.

In this case, this incident is the moral equivalent of having two friends
being struck by lightning on the same day as both Jason and Tom are good
friends of mine and by all indications lucky to be alive.

If the mods consent I will post any updates as I receive them.

John Brooks

[JHamilton]

That is just terrible. Best wishes to Jason and his family.

[paul-collins]

Please keep us informed, John.

[Down F0rce]

Awful news, what a terrible accident. Best wishes to Jason.

[mountainstar]

It was very disturbing to read this because something very similar happened near me at Moroso last week during a storm on Thursday when it lifted a tent up and one of the 55 gallon drum supports off the ground.

I also had a tent partially collapse on me due to the weight of water and got struck by a tent support beam earlier in the week that has left an ugly bruise on my side. With this accident happening, I'm going to take even greater care in the future.

My best wishes and prayers go out to Jason and his family and hope he has a quick recovery.

[Samoan Attorney]

This is the latest in............from Barton Workman

Just off the phone with Jason Workman's mother, Patricia.

Jason's condition has not changed. Doctors are keeping him in a medically
induced coma at St. Mary's Hospital in West Palm Beach until his brain
swelling subsides. Doctors advise that there is no set time frame for this
sort of thing (could be hours, could be days, weeks, months, etc.) since
everyone is different but Jason is young and strong so they expect once he
does come out of the coma that he will recover fully.

Patricia is going to set up a "Get Well Jason" website today and once
it is completed, she will pass the URL along to me for everyone to
pass along and fill out.

Once again, please be advised that I am not related to Jason.

John Brooks

[fieldodreams79]

what a strange, horrible accident. i hope jason recovers fully and quickly.

[Piratedred]

I was going to work with Jason this weekend. It was not the same without him there today.

[Samoan Attorney]

Barton Workman has sent me this update

A message board has been set up for Jason on his website for those
whom would like to send good wishes to our friend who was so
gravely hurt in an act-of-nature accident at Moroso Motorsports
Park this week.

Please take the time to visit the site and toggle the red box in the upper
right to access the message board. And, please feel free to pass the word
to all of our friends and colleagues in motorsport around the world.

Thank you.

http://www.jasonworkman.com/

For those whom may not have heard, this incident which happpened this
past Tuesday, also affected my friend Tom McDermott who was in a car,
an "Aerial Atom 2" with Jason at Moroso Motorsports Park near West Palm
Beach when winds from a storm associated with a passing cold front collapsed
the team transporter canope which was tied to ten 55 gallon water barrells,
one of which was literally launched into tha air and landed directy into the
open cockpit car which was sitting stationary on pit lane.

The story by Nancy Knapp Schilke is now posted on Motorsport.com...

http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=281002

It is our hope that due to this incident, and several others of similar
nature which have happened at race tracks in recent years, that race
tracks, teams, sanctioning bodies, sponsors, media as well as paying
fans demand that canopes and hospitality tents be secured with a different
method than what is being currently utilized such as tying off on 55 gallon
water barrells or Co2 tanks and do so without delay.

Drivers fully recognize the risks they take in an inherently dangerous sport
but this incident was completely avoidable and now our friend Jason is lying
in a coma (fortunate to still have his life) as a result.

John Brooks

[Samoan Attorney]

Late as I have been busy at Ricard.

From Barton Workman

Thanks to everyone who have taken the time to visit Jason's website
and post their good wishes on the message board. We've seen responses
from no less than 200 people (estimated) in less than two days including
notes from top drivers such as Emanuele Pirro, Spencer Pumpelly,
Andy Lally and Orlam Sonora to name a few.

Tom McDermott, the other victim in this incredible ordeal, dropped by the
office yesterday afternoon. He's badly brused and sore but otherwise okay,
very fortunate to not have any broken bones (or worse) and he's in good
spirits.

Keep the posts coming, Jason knows his friends are pulling for him!

http://jasonworkman.com/wwwboard/

Jason's mother is posting updates on his condition on the message board, the
most recent one being last night...

"All of the prayers, well-wishes, good vibrations and energy are reaching
us. Thank you all for your responses. Jason's condition has improved
slightly. Still critical, but he is being wheened from the ventilator down
to 8 breaths, he is taking 6 breaths on his own and still responds to
commands when taken off the sedation medication (usually for about 5
minutes). His vital signs are strong and I KNOW he will be back with us
soon."

More as I receive it.

John Brooks

[chocmonster7]

Jason's condition has taken a bit of a turn for the worse over the past couple of days. He's got a lung problem and is now on full ventilator in the hope that this will help his body recover.

His Mom seems to be pretty upbeat and is getting comfort from the messages people are sending so keep adding them to the web board!

[Samoan Attorney]

From Barton Workman in Palm Beach

From Jason's mother, Patricia...

"GOOD NEWS !!!!!

He is on only 50% oxygen - his X-ray looks much better already.

As you know, they put him into heavy sedation yesterday and added a paralytic - I was falling apart
at that point. BUT, it is helping. The reason they did this: 'we don't want him to do ANYTHING, not
even move an eyelid. He must rest'. The nurses don't remember anybody who required this much
sedation medication to go under. He wanted to stick around, I guess. He will be kept like this for
another day or two and then slowly brought back to see if he can handle a little bit of working on
his own.

All the prayers are working and the doctors and nurses KNOW what they are doing! Have trust!"

Wishes continue to pour in to Jason's message board from all over the world, from friends colleagues
and complete strangers moved by the incredible circumstances in which Jason was injured. We're
sure he's going to pull out of this, he's got to if we have any hope of beating those pesky kids at the
Endurance Karting race in December!

http://www.jasonworkman.com

More as I get it

John Brooks

[Hugewally]

Good news to hear...

Thanks for the update John.

[Samoan Attorney]

Latest News in from Barton Workman


Jason's condition is slowly improving - step by step. The oxygen level he is being given
was dropped to 45% (better than expected). If he continues this way, they will slowly
take him off the current sedation method as well as the paralysing drug and go back to
the previous milder sedation. The chest x-rays show much improved lung function - that's
the most important good news right now.

Lets hope that this improvement in Jason's condition continues.

John Brooks

[dxk1]

Originally Posted by Samoan Attorney

Latest News in from Barton Workman


Jason's condition is slowly improving - step by step. The oxygen level he is being given
was dropped to 45% (better than expected). If he continues this way, they will slowly
take him off the current sedation method as well as the paralysing drug and go back to
the previous milder sedation. The chest x-rays show much improved lung function - that's
the most important good news right now.

Lets hope that this improvement in Jason's condition continues.

John Brooks

That's great news, we all wish him well.

DK

[Samoan Attorney]

From Barton Workman in Palm Beach

Yesterday, Jason's ventilator was set back to the original setting, which he
tolerated quite well. Today the plan is to stop the paralytic drip and see
how he tolerates the new setting with only the sedative meds. Hope is that
he will be strong enough to absorb enough oxygen without it and continue his
journey to wellness. One step at a time ...

More as I get it...........

John Brooks

[Hugewally]

Good to hear...