Custom Search

Monday, March 8, 2010

stirling moss


Sir Stirling Moss breaks ankles falling down lift shaftThe British motor racing great Sir Stirling Moss is recovering in hospital after falling down a lift shaft at his Central London home and breaking both his ankles.

A friend of the racer said that Sir Stirling, who turned 80 last September, opened the lift door on the third floor of his house in Mayfair and stepped forwards without knowing that the lift had jammed on the floor above because of a malfunction.

A statement on his website said that Sir Stirling had broke both ankles in the accident on Saturday evening as well as four bones in his feet. He also suffered skin abrasions and chipped four vertebrae.

"The door to the lift, that should have remained locked if the lift was not on the floor that it was called from, opened in error," the statement said. "He stepped into the narrow open shaft in the expectation that the lift would be present for him to walk into, as it should have been. Lady Moss, Stirling’s wife, added: "This was a very unfortunate accident. It could have just as easily been another member of the family stepping into where the lift should have been."

Sir Stirling, who remained conscious despite the three-storey fall, was taken to the Royal London Hospital, where the doctors attending him included Professor Sid Watkins, the former Formula One crash specialist and neurosurgeon known on the circuit as "Professor Sid".

He was moved yesterday to a hospital closer to his home where he underwent surgery to insert pins and plates in both his ankles. He is expected to take six weeks to recover.

"The family are very relieved that Stirling survived the fall, demonstrating that his body still has the same resilience to injury as it did in his racing days. He is comfortable, following a good night’s rest post surgery, and is well on the road to recovery," the statement added

Lady Moss was quoted as saying that Sir Stirling was in good spirits and already complaining about the size and quality of the hospital breakfast.

Sir Stirling's six-storey house was built for the racing star in 1962 after he bought what he described as "the last Second World War bomb site in Mayfair".

He filled it with futuristic gadgets, including one of the country's first dishwashers, a remote control television - and a carbon fibre lift.

"I run up and down the stairs which keeps me fit but if you have anything heavy there’s a lift here," Sir Stirling told Times Online during a tour of the property in 2008.

"The difference with this lift is that it’s the only one in the world a) made of carbon fibre, which is what racing cars are made of and b) made by the Williams Formula One team for me - so it’s quite a piece of gear."

Moss is widely regarded as the greatest driver never to have won the Formula One championship, racing at the same time as the Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio, who won five championships.

The Briton lost the title by a single point to Mike Hawthorn in 1958, despite winning four races to his compatriot's sole victory

Winner of 16 grands prix, he finished overall runner-up on three more occasions and retired after a career-ending crash at Goodwood in 1962. He also competed in rallies and endurance races, winning 212 of the 529 races he entered.

No comments:

Post a Comment