When 17-year-old Billy Monger awoke from a medically induced coma following his accident in the British Formula 4 race at Donington Park on April 16, he did so to discover he’d had the lower halves of both of his legs amputated. However, the well wishes from members of the racing community around the world also were waiting for him when he came to, and have kept his spirits high.
In the immediate aftermath of Monger’s massive accident, motorsport fans came out in droves to offer their support for him, even raising enough money to cover his medical costs in less than 24 hours. Social media was flooded with messages wishing him a quick recovery, both from race fans as well as big-name Formula One drivers.
But the tweets were just the tip of the iceberg.
In his first interview since being airlifted to Queen’s Medical Centre, Monger told Sky Sports he also received a letter from the Grand Prix Drivers Association signed by the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Niki Lauda that he said, “really touched my heart.”
We’ve seen the video of Monger’s crash multiple times since it happened, but now that we’ve actually heard him speak about it, we’re extremely impressed with his maturity. Monger isn’t legally an adult yet, but you’d think he has a lot more life experience under his belt based on his positive outlook on the situation.
Most people wouldn’t dream of getting back behind the wheel of a race car after going through what Monger has, but he’s actually looking forward to proving what he still can do, in spite of his injuries. With that attitude, we have no doubt we’ll hear more about Monger’s efforts to get back on track in the coming months.
Thumbnail photo via British Formula 4 Championship
