Post mortem

Thank God there were neither fatal accidents nor casualties that day.

Hallmark Astro got it wrong after all eh?

Sometime there is no drama in real life.

Which is good no?

Imagine the heartache to the families and fans worldwide...

...like the day we lost Aryton Senna in the fatal Formula 1 crash in 1994 at San Marino Grand Prix At Imola.

He had just turned 34.

He is remembered as a man

who cared for the safety of his fellow racers.

In 1992 in Belgium when during Friday free practice Erik Comas had crashed heavily on the back straight, other drivers drove past the wreckage at high speed.

However Senna jumped out of his car and while endangering his own life, sprinting down the track to the wrecked car to reach inside and hit the electrics kill switch, to prevent a possible fire.

THE FATAL CRASH

On the burning afternoon of May 1st, 1994. In lap 7, from the onboard camera of Michael Schumacher's Benetton, Senna's car was seen to break traction twice at the rear, go off the track at Tamburello corner and strike an unprotected concrete barrier.

At 310 km/h, he manged to slow the car down to 218 km/h in less than two seconds before hitting the wall.

After the crash, he remained motionless in the cockpit. Then his head was seen to move to one side slightly causing false hopes to be raised. A long time seemed to pass before medical units came to his rescue, with fire marshals having arrived at the car and unable to touch Senna before qualified medical personnel arrived.

During this time a miscom at the pit stop caused a Larrousse F1 car piloted by Erik Comas (the same racer he saved 2 years ago) left the pit lane to rejoin the now red flagged Grand Prix.

Frantic waving by the marshalls at Senna's crash site prevented the Larousse from risking a collision with the medical helicopter that had landed on the track.

Professor Sidney Watkins, a world-renowned neurosurgeon, head of the Formula 1 on-track medical team, who performed an on site tracheostomy (Disclaimer: This procedure could be dangerous if performed by an untrained personnel) on Ayrton Senna, reported:

“He looked serene. I raised his eyelids and it was clear from his pupils that he had a massive brain injury. We lifted him from the cockpit and laid him on the ground. As we did, he sighed and, although I am totally agnostic, I felt his soul departed at that moment".

Later, officials found a bloodsoaked Austrian flag. A victory flag that he was going to raise in honour of Austrian Roland atzenberger, who had died on that track the day before.

After his death it was discovered that he had donated millions of dollars of his personal fortune (estimated at $400 million at the time of his death) to children's charities, a fact that during his life he had kept secret.

Aryton Senna, 1960 - 1994

Four months prior to his death, he said:

"If I ever happen to have an accident that eventually costs me my life, I hope it is in one go. I would not like to be in a wheelchair. I would not like to be in a hospital suffering from whatever injury it was. If I'm going to live, I want to live fully. Very intensely, because I am an intense person. It would ruin my life if I had to live partially."