The 69-year old Austrian and three-time Formula 1 champion with Ferrari and McLaren in 1975, 1977 and 1984, Niki Lauda, is expected to make a full recovery after undergoing a lung transplant late last week.
According to a recent report from the BBC and motorsport, the prognosis by doctors before the surgery showed that Lauda was only days away from dying had he not received the transplant.
It was certainly a gloomy prognosis, but the urgency of the case led to Lauda being placed near the top of the lung replacement waiting list, and eventually securing one.
Medical reports suggest that the present non-executive chairman of the Formula 1 team, Mercedes, suffered from haemorrhagic alveolitis which was air sac inflammation in the lungs causing bleeding into the respiratory tract.
Earlier treatments which helped improve Niki Lauda’s condition temporarily involved immunosuppressive therapy, but immune cells in the blood which migrated to his lungs and attacked the tissue there, made him suffer further acute lung disease.
The condition meant that Lauda was unable to breath oxygen via his lungs. With non-functioning lungs, Lauda was given mechanical ventilation while in intensive care, with a fear that without finding a replacement lung he would die in just a matter of days.
After securing the replacement lung and undergoing a successful transplant, Lauda is now expected to recover at the Vienna General Hospital, where breathing tubes will be removed in the next 24 hours in the hope for a full recovery for the Formula 1 veteran.
Doctors also believe that within two to three weeks from now, Lauda may be able to check out of the hospital. However, it is suggested that a stay of about one-month due to ICU issue will be highly ideal for the 69-year old.
Lauda’s medical team say that 90 percent of patients who undergo similar procedure live for about and year, and about 75 percent live for about five years or more. His doctors also believe he should be able to return to his role with the Mercedes formula 1 team and also the F1 paddock.
Niki Lauda's Fiery Legacy
In 2012, Lauda became the nonexecutive chairman of the Mercedes formula one team. He is notably credited with being involved with bringing current Mercedes’ start driver Lewis Hamilton, to the team.
Back in 1976, Niki Lauda famously crashed in Germany at the Nurburgring circuit. While his car was getting engulfed in flames from the crash, Lauda suffered horrific burns and was rescued by his fellow drivers.
Despite being ruled out from returning to the blazing asphalt tracks, Lauda got behind the wheel just six weeks after he suffered his horrific burns and the crash. He then went on to win the world drivers’ title in the following year in 1977 and also won in 1984.
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