John Force Released From Hospital After 27 Days

NHRA's Force set for hospital release
Posted: Friday October 19, 2007 10:23PM; Updated: Friday October 19, 2007 10:23PM

DALLAS (AP) -- Through thousands of runs at 300-plus mph, drag-racing star John Force never spent more than a few hours laid up with injuries in the first 30 years of his career.
On Saturday, he's supposed to get out of the hospital 27 days after a horrific, replayed-around-the-world crash that broke an ankle, foot, hand and several fingers and badly damaged a knee and wrist. Among other things.

"I'm a pretty proud guy," Force told The Associated Press on Friday. "The hospital has humbled me in ways you can't imagine."
Like the day doctors who put the 14-time Funny Car champion back together brought him a steering wheel, but he couldn't grip it. Or the preschool toy with blocks that have matching holes, something therapists have used to help Force feel comfortable using his hands again.
The recovery from last month's crash at Texas Motorplex will be far from over when the 58-year-old Force gets home to Yorba Linda, Calif. The rehab sessions will continue, and he'll return to Dallas in about five weeks to have pins removed from his legs.
"Getting home will be a big step," said Force, the subject of a reality TV show on A&E called "Driving Force."
Force was injured in the Funny Car semifinals of the O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals in a race against longtime rival Kenny Bernstein. The cars were traveling at more than 300 mph just after the finish line when Force's car broke in two, and the back half, including the cockpit with Force strapped in, skidded across the track.
The owner of John Force Racing plans to be back at the track for the last two NHRA events of the season, starting in Las Vegas in two weeks. His bus will have a special bed, and several devices will help him get around. He can't use crutches because of a badly dislocated left wrist.
Force said he was lucky to be alive in a crash that came six months after one of his drivers, Eric Medlen, was killed during a testing session in Gainesville, Fla. Still, Force has been working overtime in therapy to get ready for testing in January. The 2008 NHRA season starts in February.
"I can't quit now. To quit now would mean my whole life meant nothing," said Force, whose daughter, Ashley Force, and son-in-law, Robert Hight, are drivers on his team. "We're the Force family. We race. It's what we do."
Some of the biggest names in racing -- like NASCAR veterans Dale Jarrett and Rusty Wallace -- have called Force to wish him well. He talks enthusiastically about building faster and safer cars, the latter a commitment he made after Medlen's death.
"I never realized how much I missed the racing," Force said. "I watch NASCAR, I watch anything I can watch, football. I've just got to get back. I can't be an owner, let me just say that. I've got to be a driver."
Dr. Amy Wilson, medical director for the Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation, and Force's therapist, Melissa Simon, said the driver has a lot of work ahead. He can't put any weight on his left ankle for another month, and most of his time out of bed will be spent in a wheelchair or walker.
Since he's a race car driver, he'll have perhaps his biggest problem in Las Vegas. He said he won't be able to sign autographs.
"I don't want to go there and be an embarrassment," he said. "I'd love to be able to sign autographs. I will come out for pictures."
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