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View Full Version : Miracle!!!! Injured driver Lindenberg pulls thru!



BK
10-14-2002, 08:42 PM
If any of you have attended any St Louis F1 boat races during the last several years, you'll recognize the name Peter Lindenberg --- He's a South African F1 pilot who came to St Louis, typically leasing one of the Bud Light boats.

Peter was involved in a horrific wreck 2 weeks ago, where he was underwater for a great amount of time, as well as suffering major injuries to his vital organs. His prognosis of surviving was less than 50%. It looked really bad. :(

From http://www.powerboat.co.za

“Peter was racing on the limit, chasing Mark Shepherd the winner of the first two races, in the final 15-lap race in quite choppy conditions. The course was tight and Peter – who loves to win - just could not overtake Mark,” said the Formula 1 series promoter Jan Johnson. Cameras caught Lindenberg hit the wake of Shepherd’s boat, and in conjunction with a gust of wind got airborne, he had a vicious nose-dive at 220 k/ph.

“I arrived on the scene and started counting the number of National Ports Authority boats and realised that Peter’s boat was still under water,” said Shepherd. “The rescue tried to roll the boat, and I realised that Peter was still underwater strapped in his cockpit. Peter’s team-mate Ian Mather dived into the water to assist the rescue 911 team to remove the steering wheel, because the control cables had wrapped around the wheel, preventing its release. He must have been underwater the best part of 2 and a half minutes, and when I saw him he was blue and foaming. It did not look good,” he explained.

Ralf Schana, the events manager of Netcare 911 said that their biggest problem was that the safety cell Peter was in had started to sink as it had no flotation – the flotation was in the hull, which was broken in pieces. “We nearly had the cockpit sink with Peter in it at one stage. It was touch and go,” he said.

A brain scan in Vredenberg revealed swelling but fortunately no damage despite the fact that his helmet had broken in half and had caused damaged to the side of his safety cell.

29 September 2002

“We can be very grateful”, said pulmonary specialist Dr. Peter Chapman at the Vincent Pallotti Hospital at 9am on Sunday 29 September. This was in stark contrast to the less than 50% chance of survival given by the trauma specialist Dr. Ryk Lochner at 8pm Saturday night about the legendary powerboat champion Peter Lindenberg who had a horrific barrel-roll at the second round of the national championship series in the Port of Saldanha Bay at 4:30pm on Saturday 28 September.

http://www.powerboat.co.za


2 October 2002

Powerboat Legend continues with his miraculous recovery from a horrific Formula 1 accident on Saturday at the National Ports Authority Saldanha Port Festival. The fact that he is alive is a huge tribute to the Rescue 911 team who rescued him from the water and Dr. Karen Schwabe who together with Rolf Schana resuscitated him, to Dr Lochner, a trauma specialist who stabilised him and staved off a near cardiac arrest, and pulmonary specialist Dr. Peter Chapman who is still attending to him in intensive care at the Vincent Pallotti hospital in Pinelands, Cape Town.

Lindenberg, who regained consciousness and was taken off the respirator yesterday morning, said that he was feeling much better today and was ready to meet the minister of sport who will visit him today.

One of his first conversations was to his team-mate Ian Mather, who assisted to get the trapped Lindenberg from his boat in the icy Atlantic waters, when he instructed him to prepare his boat for the next round of the championships taking place at the Morula Sun north of Pretoria on 24 November. :eek:

Lindenberg is looking forward to returning to work as soon as possible to Gosforth Park where he is constructing a multi-faceted motorsport complex, which will be ready in June 2003.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is GREAT NEWS!

THANK GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Glad to have you back, Peter!
:eek: :)

H2Onut
10-14-2002, 08:48 PM
God Speed in your healing !

BK
10-14-2002, 09:13 PM
Desperately, the rescue crew tries to get Peter out.......

http://www.powerboat.co.za/_images/saldanha/DSCN4177_6.jpg

BK
10-14-2002, 09:16 PM
And he makes it!!!! "Thankful" does not even come close to describing the way they all are feeling right now.....

Welcome back, Peter!~

http://www.powerboat.co.za/_images/tzaneen/Peter%20&%20Dev%20Winner%20M.jpg

woodco
10-14-2002, 09:27 PM
That is a heck of a miracle !!!!!! Definately had someone lookin
over his shoulder that day .........

BK
10-14-2002, 11:40 PM
Here he is when he leased one of Rusty Campbell's "Overton's" boats a few years back......

http://www.hydroprop.com/formulaoneprop/drivers/photo-petelindenberg.jpg

From hydroprop.com

Pete Lindenberg / #77

Lindenberg started powerboat racing in 1978 in the South African TN class, going on to win the South African title in an outboard monohull the next year. In 1981 be became the first South African driver to purchase a Grand Prix craft which he used to take his first of fourteen South African Grand Prix Champion titles by the end of that season. He joined the World Series in 1985, winning the British Grand Prix in 1989 and finishing third overall that year. Lindenberg nearly lost his life in an accident in Malaysia in 1989, but this did not deter him from the sport. He has been a South African Powerboat Champion on fourteen occasions, having only lost the title five times in 19 years. He finished 2nd overall in the 1998/1999 season, but came back to take his 14th F1 Powerboating season title in 1999/2000.

Lindenberg is a full time boat and car-racing driver, and lives in Bryanston, Johannesburg. He is married to wife Debbie and they have three daughters, Chiara, Paige (races in Class B Junior division) and Abbi. He has always loved watersports, having been South African Barefoot Champion from 1977 _ 1981 (he also broke the world barefoot ramp jump record), a Springbok waterski racing driver and now powerboat champion. Peter has been awarded national colours on 37 occasions in these three watersports. Also a motor speed freak, Lindenberg won the Wesbank Modified Saloon Car Class B Series in 1994 in his Opel V8, and did well in the Historics and GSi classes to boot that same year. He was also runner-up in the Wesbank Modified Series in 1999. He is now concentrating on Saloon Car racing, and has broken the lap records at Kyalami and East London for this fast and popular class. He is now competing in the new SASCAR Series.

Lindenberg is the President of Powerboat South Africa, the national powerboating authority in South Africa and wants to ensure the success of the South African Prop Tour Series. He is also Managing Director of SASCAR (Pty) Ltd.

BK
10-18-2002, 04:29 PM
:eek: Holy Moly!

He's already going RACING again!!!!!



JOHANNESBURG

Lindenberg to race again
Posted Mon, 14 Oct 2002

South African Formula One powerboat racer Peter Lindenberg who almost drowned in a racing accident last month will participate in the Southern African Stock Car Auto Racing (Sascar) in Cape Town at the weekend with his left arm in plaster.

Lindenberg will also be racing at the Morula Sun Grand Prix next month.

He was hospitalised after his boat flipped during a powerboat race event at Saldanha Bay on the Cape West Coast on Saturday.

Lindenberg was trapped underwater for between two and three minutes as rescuers battled to free him from the boat's cockpit.

Powerboat South Africa spokesperson Jan Johnson said on Monday: "I am delighted to report that Peter Lindenberg has had a miraculous recovery since the horrific Saldanha accident at our second round and aside of racing this weekend in Cape Town in Sascar with his left arm in plaster, he intends to race at the Morula Sun on 24 November in his two-seater."


Sapa
http://iafrica.com/news/sa/175593.htm