Stirling Moss hurt in lift shaft fall

Sir Stirling Moss has been badly hurt falling down a lift shaft at his Mayfair home

Sir Stirling Moss – ‘The best driver never to have been world champion’ – has been hurt after falling down the lift shaft at his home in Mayfair. Reports say that Sir Stirling, who turned 80 last year, broke both ankles, several bones in his feet and damaged vertebrae in the fall on Saturday. A hospital spokesman said Sir Stirling was ‘Comfortable’. Whether Sir Stirling would agree is probably open to debate.

But Sir Stirling has been here before – and far worse. His career was effectively cut short by a massive accident in 1962 which put him in a coma for six months. But he recovered from that and, despite his age, you can be sure he’ll recover from this. His body may be in its ninth decade but his spirit is as strong as ever. So it’ll take a while, but he’ll be back historic car racing before long.

Interestingly, it’s being reported that F1 super-medic Professor Sid Watkins was on hand on Sunday to arrange to transfer Sir Stirling to a hospital closer to home after his operation. We’ve often wondered what Sid did when there wasn’t an F1 weekend, and now we know; he’s on call to fly the assistance of every F1 driver – past and present – in need of his services.

The lift shaft Sir Sterling fell down at his home was actually put in by Williams F1 and is made of carbon Fibre. The Times did a piece on Sir Stirling’s Mayfair home a couple of years ago, and you can see how small the opening is for the lift at the end of the piece. It’s no wonder Sir Stirling didn’t see the lift wasn’t there when he squeezed in.

Chin up, Sir Stirling. Aim to be back behind the wheel at Goodwood. It’s good to have a goal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9C2T0ObRzU

By Cars UK