Shane Hmiel Injured Badly in violent Silver Crown wreck at Terre Haute

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Didnt know where to post this, so I will just post it here and a moderater can move it if I wasnt supposed to.

Source: http://www.popoffvalve.com/2010/10/...ter-violent-silver-crown-wreck-at-terre-haute

Former NASCAR driver and current USAC racer Shane Hmiel was involved in a violent single-car accident in qualifying for Saturday's SUMAR Classic at the Terre Haute Action Track.

Hmiel was qualifying his Silver Crown car when he lost control between turns three and four of the half-mile dirt oval. His car cartwheeled and impacted the retaining wall, resulting in a catastrophic collapse of the car's roll cage.

According to family sources, Hmiel was initially unresponsive when extracted from his car. He was airlifted to Methodist Hospital for emergency treatment. At this time, no further word is available on his condition.

Hmiel's family, including his father and NASCAR Sprint Cup team manager Steve Hmiel, are being flown to Indianapolis to stay close to the situation.

We will have further updates when available.
 
Update -

"Hmiel's Firestone Indy Lights team, Alliance Motorsports, posted a Twitter update reporting that Hmiel is "stable but in critical condition" at Methodist Hospital. A family source said that Hmiel is in an induced coma and undergoing tests at this time."
 
Update #2

"At 11:50pm ET Saturday night Hmiel was moved out of intensive care to a private room. Preliminary tests have been encouraging but further tests will be needed once Hmiel's swelling has been reduced enough that doctors can bring him out of the induced coma."
 
Update from overnight.....

Another update came at around 2:30am this morning (Sunday, October 10th), which said that Shane was actually awake and moving his arms. However, reports say that Hmiel has broken his neck in two places, and broken his back as well.
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Thoughts and prayers out to Shane & family.
 
All the best to Shane and his family. He got a rough ride on this forum but you gotta respect the fact that he is a genuine kid and a real racer.His personal demons aside, a great kid.
 
Kyle just said on Raceday that Shane and Adam were buds growing up and that Shane got a memorial tatoo when Adam was killed. Man, that's gotta be deja vu for Kyle. Kenny Wallace also remarked that Juan Pablo loaned Steve Hmeil his private jet to fly back to terre Haute to be with his son.
 
^^^^^^^Damn

He is lucky to be alive at all. Thats the second sprint car ive seen do that in 3 weeks. luckily the other guy i saw walked away. Wonder if he caught a rut wrong or the cushion was that high.
 
Ok I'v seen some worse accidents than that in Woo and Silver Crown , that roll cage just did not hold up at all. Totally collapsed, if I were the ownere and the sanctioning body, I'd be looking into why that cage didn't do its' job!.
 
Another update.....

A Facebook page has been created to update fans of Shane Hmiel on his condition with reports from his mom. It's called Shane Hmiel -- Road to Recovery.



Updates posted Sunday night stated that Shane, injured in a USAC Silver Crown crash on Saturday when his car slammed roll cage first into a concrete wall, had spinal cord injuries and that he had neck surgery on Sunday night.. According to an update after the surgery from Shane's mom, she wrote: "1st surgery very successful, stimulated brain, movement in arms. (Monday) big back surgery. pray.''
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Shane Hmiel's Road to Recovery Facebook page reports he's undergoing back surgery now. Expected to last 6-8 hours. This as of about 4:15pm.
 
Some more recent updates.....

Second surgery exceeded expectations. Doctors are encouraged by his progress.

Had comfortable night. Looks good and moved both arms on command. Thanks for prayers and keep them coming. -- The Hmiel Family

shane is going down for down at 2 30 for angioplasty i
to ck his carotid artery to see if stretched If its thin they will put in stinit thx for your contiued prayers that greatly appreciated by me steve and tyler and the rest of his family and millions of friends thx
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Some great news coming from the Hmiel family.
 
Steve Hmiel looked me in the eyes yesterday and didn't blink. "Shane died four times."

Interesting article and update on Shane Hmiel from Marty Smith.....

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Steve Hmiel was cruising through Atlanta recently when another car sped through a red light and nearly hit him. A bit shaken, he muttered aloud to no one in particular that they'd nearly gotten plowed.

"What's the worst that can happen, Dad," said a chipper voice from the back. "I'd get paralyzed?"

The quip came from Hmiel's son, Shane, who indeed is paralyzed after a brutal crash during USAC qualifying at Terre Haute, Ind., on Oct. 9. Shane was initially given a 10 percent chance to live, Steve said. Doctors told the Hmiel family he would never walk again or breathe on his own. They advised the family to build ramps at their home, and secure a permanent place for Shane in a nursing home.

"People pray for miracles," Steve said. "Shane just might be one. He died four times. He wasn't supposed to ever move his fingers again. He wasn't supposed to ever move his arms again. He wasn't ever supposed to move his toes or his feet again. He has done all of those things."

When Steve says Shane died, he is not using figurative speech. He flat-lined four times while in intensive care in Indianapolis.

"His mother was standing there when he died one time," Steve continued. "That was just horrible. He had a thing called advanced respiratory distress syndrome. One in three people survive that [condition] if they're not injured. One in 10 survives when they're injured as badly as Shane. It was horrible to watch him every day."

Shane doesn't remember the accident -- he only knows what people tell him. He studied the damage to his racing helmet and, without warning, was shown video of the wreck. He wasn't prepared.

"He's amazed by the fact that he's still here," said Steve, the managing director at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. "He looks at that as a blessing and at the same time a great challenge. He thinks God did that for a reason. He overcame a lot prior to this accident in his personal life, and he's proud of himself for that. And he hopes to overcome this, as well, and become an example to people that you can come back from life's setbacks."

If nothing else, Shane Hmiel is resilient. I consider him indomitable.

He was banned from NASCAR for life in 2006 after failing three drug tests. He got clean and humble, and went to work rebuilding his life. He had found a home in USAC, and was enjoying a budding television career as a host for the racing program "Three Wide Life."

He was at peace with his mistakes and making his way. He used the drug setback as a teaching point for others. Then the wreck happened, just as opportunities at higher racing levels began to sprout.

"There was a book someone wrote once, 'At First You Cry …' " Steve said of the toll the accident has taken on the family. "My wife has not been home since the accident. She's a really good, strong woman, stronger than I am. And Shane is just like her. Very strong. So strong."

Part of Shane's strength, Steve said, comes from the outpouring from the racing community and its staunchly loyal fan base. More than 25,000 people follow his recovery on the Shane Hmiel Road to Recovery Facebook page. He has received more than 4,500 Get Well cards and more calls than he can count.

I have called him many times. His voice mail is always full.

For now the Hmiels are in wait-and-see mode. Shane spends eight hours daily in exhausting rehab at Shepherd Center in Atlanta, "working very hard and doing a nice job," Steve said.

Shane didn't sever his spinal cord in the accident, but rather bruised it. That is good, because there is hope for recovery. But it also prompts limitless unknowns.

"If you break your spinal cord, below that area is not going to work. It's just not," Steve said. "He didn't break his spinal cord. So it's like, 'How's s this going to work out?' In some ways it's harder, because you don't know what to expect.

"If you're paralyzed, you know, OK, I have to learn to get around and have to work hard to return and become a productive member of society. With Shane it's like, 'How far is this going to go?' "

Doctors have no way to predict that, Steve said. But little by little, Shane gives them reason to hope. He has passed all cognitive tests for brain function. Now it's about getting his muscles to fire. He first moved a finger. Then three fingers. Then a hand. Then an arm.

"It's amazing," Steve said. "But you always wonder, is this going to work tomorrow? Will he be as good as he was when he went to sleep? You have to wonder."

Sometimes, Steve struggles to cope with his son's plight -- a father weeping for his son -- and Shane will ease over with words of encouragement.

"He's like, 'Look man, I'm fine with it, I've raced my whole life. I did everything I wanted to do. I raced against your cars. I won the Hoosier Hundred. I'll still be involved in racing even I'm in a wheelchair. I'm fine with it,'" Steve said. "He's disarmingly straight up sometimes."
 
that's great news about shane. since his spinal cord was just bruised i'd be very surprised if he doesn't make a significant recovery.
 
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