ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, May 26, 1996 TAG: 9605280112
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder News Service
HE'S RECOVERED from his horrendous crash at last year's Indy 500, but it might be a while before he hops into a race car again.
Stan Fox can't understand why the doctors won't let him run an Indy car. Most of the racing fraternity can't believe he's walking around Gasoline Alley.
One of the truly great sights in 1996 was watching Fox stroll back into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, after his catastrophic crash at the start of the '95 Indy 500.
``They say it was a heck of a crash, and everybody was pretty concerned but what can I say ... I'm just a lucky guy,'' said Fox, who was in a coma for five days but then recovered enough to walk out of an Indianapolis therapy center last August.
``It was a good time to be lucky, because when I woke up, I was just fine.''
Starting 11th, Fox's car snapped sideways going into turn 1, collected Eddie Cheever's car and slammed into the outside wall - shearing off the front end of his Delta Faucet '95 Reynard/Ford.
It looked, and was, bad, but no track is better prepared than the Speedway, which relies on a great trauma team and Methodist Hospital.
``The thing that saved Stan's life was getting him down to surgery,'' said Dr. Henry Bock, the Speedway's director of medical services, who directed the swift rescue. ``Another 10-15 minutes and ... I don't know if he would have made it.
``It was a miracle, for sure, but it almost didn't have a chance to be one.''
When the 43-year-old veteran from Janesville, Wis., woke up, he immediately recognized his wife, Jean. It took a little longer to identify his children, Marie (12) and Alex (6), but it was obvious to friends and family that his thought process had survived.
With a daily push from Jean and good therapy assistance here and in Wisconsin, Fox relearned the basics of eating, drinking, walking and talking.
``I was going to rehab from 9 to 5 with five or six people helping me,'' said Fox, who received more than 5,000 cards and letters from fans and vows to answer all of them.
Getting to where he is today, Fox said, ``took a while but I think we made pretty good progress.''
Remarkable might be a better description. He was snowmobiling, skiing and driving a passenger car by winter. He regained full body strength, motor skills and long-term memory.
He doesn't remember May, June or July, sometimes has trouble with people's names and looks at pictures of his accident like it was somebody else. But his long-term memory is exceptional.
``My memory still isn't 100 percent, but I can walk and talk and I'm ready to race again,'' he claims. ``The doctors say I'm not, but I know I am.''
Encouraged after hot-lapping a stock car on a half-mile dirt track recently, Fox is not ready for 230 mph at Indy - or that assessment.
While Fox is recovering well, he's not ready for racing, Bock said.
``Stan is doing exceptionally well compared to where he was when he waved at me on July 4,'' Bock said. ``He has a serious brain injury that is healing but it takes a minimum of 24 months to heal, and it's been less than a year.
``Any type of blow to his head right now could be catastrophic, and the specialists who looked at him said he is definitely not ready to return to racing.''
Fox, who owns a motorcycle business, is financially stable. He said he plans to hang around Ron Hemelgarn's operation this weekend.
And he vows to be back behind the wheel here.
``The doctors said the tests showed I wasn't ready, but I'm ready to meet with them to see what needs to be done so I can drive again,'' he said. ``I definitely want to race again at Indianapolis.''
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB