James Hinchcliffe says he was given more than 14 pints of blood
We knew from previous reports that IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe lost a lot of blood in his nasty Indianapolis 500 practice crash. How much is a lot? Well, Hinchcliffe said he thinks it was over 14 pints.
“The suspension struck an artery and even before getting me out of the car, I had lost a tremendous amount of blood,” Hinchcliffe said in an interview with SportsNet Canada. “And the blood started in the ambulance, I’m told. From what I hear they skipped the infield medical center. They got me straight in the ambulance and straight to Methodist [Hospital] because they knew it was bigger than that. And I think I had 14 pints of blood en route to the hospital and the human body holds 12, something like that?
“And then a bunch more in surgery until they were able to get in and get the artery fixed.”
You can view the entire interview here. And yes, Hinchcliffe’s math regarding the human body’s blood capacity isn’t far off. If his figure of 14+ pints is accurate, he was easily given more blood than he originally had in his body.
Hinchcliffe had a parts failure during practice on the Wednesday before the 500. His car shot straight into the wall at over 200 MPH. A suspension part from his right-front wheel, where the impact was, went through the tub of his cockpit and through his legs. He had to be extricated from the cockpit delicately because of the situation and taken directly to the hospital.
Somehow, the suspension piece didn’t hit any bones. Though the massive blood loss meant Hinchcliffe’s life was in danger. In a statement after the crash, he praised the IndyCar safety team for their quick reactions. He reiterated it again in the interview.
“if it wasn’t for the safety team and what they identified immediately and the situation they recognized right away and made those decisions to skip medical center, go straight to the hospital, get the blood going and everything, it would have been a very different outcome,” Hinchcliffe said.
He was replaced in the Indianapolis 500 by Ryan Briscoe. Hinchcliffe said he’s ahead of schedule in his rehab, and said his focus was to be ready for IndyCar’s offseason testing in preparation for the 2016 season.
– – – – – – –
Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
