Niki Lauda’s health has been a cause for major concern in the last week or so, with the legendary F1 figure having to undergo lung transplant in Vienna after he was flown in from Ibiza due to a summer flu.
Lauda, who had been vacationing with his family in Ibiza, had caught a flu and was brought into the AKH hospital in Vienna.
The doctors declared that a lung transplant was necessary and all the required procedures were carried out in order to ensure a successful operation.
Post the transplant, Lauda was kept in artificial coma in order to recuperate from all that had transpired in the last week.
He has now woken up from the coma and is recovering well in order to return to what he loves doing best.
However, the doctors have revealed some chilling facts about Lauda’s conditions leading upto Lauda’s lung transplant.
Lauda was actually suffering from acute pneumonia and at his age, pneumonia can seriously damage the immune system and make the body vulnerable to a host of other issues.
As a reason of this pneumonia, the doctors felt that Lauda could live only for 3-7 days without a transplant and that they had to find a donor immediately.
“He will be the old man again, he will be able to fly again, even work as before,” the lead surgeon told OE24.
Lauda had suffered from lung damage because of inhaling toxic fumes during the Nurburging crash, however, the doctor confirmed that the current lung situation was not because of that.
“One can absolutely assume that lung transplantation is not a late consequence of the fire accident,” he told ORF.
The doctor confirmed that Lauda could be back in the paddock by early October.
