“Going to Cut His Legs Off”: Lewis Hamilton Looks Back on a Traumatic Time With Brother Nicolas Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton and his brother Nicolas share a very close relationship but had to go through some tough times growing up together. Hamilton’s brother was born two months early and was subsequently diagnosed with cerebral palsy. While he received unconditional love from his family throughout his childhood, Nicolas had to go through a traumatic time nonetheless.

In his book, My Story, Hamilton talks about the difficult moments his brother endured. He recalls how before his diagnosis, his brother had trouble walking and how it affected his entire body. Still, he never complained about it and smiled through whatever problems he was facing at the time.

However, when Nicolas was four years old, he had to go through a very major surgery.  To increase his mobility, the tendons on his legs had to be operated on, and Nicolas had his legs on plaster for eight weeks.

This was a time when Hamilton himself was away from home because of his racing commitments, but he reveals that as soon as his younger brother was out of the hospital, he would join him on the track.

Nicolas Hamilton thought doctors would cut his legs off

After his major surgery that would ‘extend his tendons’, Nicolas had to keep his legs plastered for eight weeks. However, the hospital let him leave after just seven days, in a wheelchair. His legs were stretched out completely, and plastered up to his groins.

Hamilton stated that the entire time was very traumatic for them. When the doctors came to his brother with the equipment to take his cast off, Nicolas thought that his legs were going to be cut off, and he cried a lot.

‘When the time came to take off his plaster casts,’ Hamilton writes. ‘Nic thought the doctors were going to cut his legs off. I remember he cried his eyes out but it wasn’t long before that smile came back to his face.’

Lewis Hamilton has always been his brother’s biggest fan

Despite going through such a difficult period in his childhood, Nicolas Hamilton overcame all odds to pursue his dream of becoming a racing driver. For a long time, he thought it wasn’t going to happen, but after going through multiple surgeries and enduring even more difficulties in the process, he became the person he always wanted to become.

Hamilton calls his brother a huge inspiration, and labels his smile as ‘infectious’.

‘It taught me a lot about life,’ the seven-time world champion adds. ‘Nic has always been my number one fan, and I am his.’