i woke up this morning to more bad news. with the horrific events of tuesday i was a lucky one. as far as i knew, i did not know anyone who was injured or lost in the attacks. however, this morning, i found out that someone i had met, had been critically injured. not in a terrorist attack, not in a suicide bombing, but while doing something he loved, and in a defiant gesture of "we will not let the terrorists change our plans"

I am talking about Alessandro Zanardi. Alex, as he is known to the United States racing fans, races in the CART series. The CART series is in Germany for what had been called the German 500, but out of respect to the tragic events, been renamed The American Memorial race. CART had decided to show that they would not change their plans and would move forwards with life. Unfortunately, in the final laps of the race which he was leading, Alex would emerge from pit lane and have a spin of the car which sadly put him directly in the path of another race car moving at approximately 230 miles per hour.

Now, today's open wheeled Champcar is a remarkably safe machine designed to keep the driver safe in all manners of impacts. however, a t-bone type of collision is rare, and not one that is typical. Alex was immediately airlifted by helicopter to a Berlin hospital in critical condition.

Alex would later lose both his legs due to the massive injuries sustained and the incredible amount of blood loss. Alex was lucky. He did not lose his life as countless others did this week, in much more horrific manners, all while doing their jobs. Alex too was doing his job, and he loved his job. His story is different, in many ways. To me, its different because i had met him. I had the privelege of meeting Alex a few years ago, when he was driving for Team Target. Alex is an incredibly funny, charming, and nice guy. He'd been through tough work times, and good. and all throughout, he kept his spirits up. I hope he can continue in that manner as he recovers and relearns his life moving forwards.

the one thing that i am glad for, is that i did not have to use the past tense when describing alex in the past paragraph. for that we should all be happy, which of course seems moot considering the events of 11 sept 2001.