On June 26th I was having a great time racing sprints at Blackwood in a Formula BMW. I believe I ended up in third in one of those races with my best lap time of 1:18.
I still can't believe this happened but I suffered a minor heart attack after that last sprint. I always had a bad valve in my heart that the doctors were monitoring for many years though no one guessed or suspected I was also suffering from coronary disease as it is rare to have both conditions. Surprise, surprise. I ended up undergoing open heart surgery having a triple bypass and valve repair. I was extremely lucky as it could have been a lot worse.
You wouldn't believe the laughter from the EMT's and other medical professionals after I told them my story. They all wanted to know whether I won or not though I indicated I needed to improve a couple of seconds on each lap to compete at that level.
After my rehab period I would like to return to racing as I enjoy it so much. Not sure when that will be as it's not up to me. Just completing one of those sprints without causing any mishaps and having lap times around 1:18 would be an accomplishment. Till then...
I still can't believe this happened but I suffered a minor heart attack after that last sprint. I always had a bad valve in my heart that the doctors were monitoring for many years though no one guessed or suspected I was also suffering from coronary disease as it is rare to have both conditions. Surprise, surprise. I ended up undergoing open heart surgery having a triple bypass and valve repair. I was extremely lucky as it could have been a lot worse.
You wouldn't believe the laughter from the EMT's and other medical professionals after I told them my story. They all wanted to know whether I won or not though I indicated I needed to improve a couple of seconds on each lap to compete at that level.
After my rehab period I would like to return to racing as I enjoy it so much. Not sure when that will be as it's not up to me. Just completing one of those sprints without causing any mishaps and having lap times around 1:18 would be an accomplishment. Till then...