Formula 2 driver Juan Manuel Correa to undergo surgery
Saturday 28 September 2019 09:38, UK
Formula 2 driver Juan Manuel Correa will undergo surgery on his right leg on Sunday, four weeks after being injured in the crash that killed French racer Anthoine Hubert.
The Ecuadorean-American, who was taken out of a medically-induced coma last week, is now "fully conscious", a statement issued by his family said.
The surgery is in order to avoid amputation, with his lungs having recovered enough for doctors to attempt the procedure.
Doctors had given Correa the option of a "reconstructive amputation" of his right foot, the statement added, but the 20-year-old had decided to proceed with the surgery instead.
"Sunday's surgery will be crucial in determining Juan Manuel's future," said the statement.
"During surgery, they will save what can be saved and remove what needs to be removed in order to rebuild his right lower leg to the best possible condition.
"The surgeons are the top in their field and are cautiously optimistic given the fast-paced recovery that Juan Manuel has had in the previous week."
Hubert died when his car was hit at speed by Correa's after the French driver crashed into the barriers during the Belgian Grand Prix support race on August 31.
Correa suffered a spinal injury and fractured his legs in the crash.
He was transferred from Belgium to a specialised intensive care unit in London this month and was moved to another hospital specialising in orthopaedic surgeries earlier this week.
