Škoda UK Motorsport driver Guy Wilks is spending time in an oxygen chamber to help speed up his recovery, after suffering two fractured vertebrae in an accident on Rally d'Italia-Sardegna. Early medical assessments indicate that the fractures will heal quickly and that the 29-year old Darlington driver will be able to start a special training programme very soon.
Having arrived back in the UK on Monday night (7 June), Guy spoke to an Ipswich-based bone specialist, who gave a very positive evaluation of recovery time.
After returning to his home in County Durham, Guy has been taking treatments in an oxygen chamber at the Multiple Sclerosis Society Therapy Centre in Middlesbrough, which is a facility where other sportsmen and women have received similar recovery-boosting treatment.
Co-driver Phil Pugh was uninjured in the accident, and has returned home to the Welsh seaside town Tywyn, in Gwynedd.
Škoda UK Motorsport has decided not to compete in the Geko Ypres Rally (24-26 June) and will continue to monitor Guy’s progress closely in order to decide on its next IRC event.
The IRC structure of counting drivers’ seven best scores from 12 rallies towards the title allows Škoda UK Motorsport to miss the Belgium event without much consequence. Guy is currently lying 3rd in the drivers’ standings having scored four points-scoring results from five starts – two 2nds (Brazil and Argentina), one 3rd (Gran Canarias) and a 6th place finish (Monte Carlo). The Ypres Rally marks the halfway point in the series, with six rallies remaining thereafter.
Guy Wilks: “I’m feeling better every day and I’m able to walk around with a brace on to support my back. The doctors in Italy were very good, but I certainly wanted to get a second opinion from a specialist at home, someone I either knew or could talk to without the language barrier, and my doctor said that in terms of breaking your back, my situation is not so bad.
“I’m going to an oxygen chamber to accelerate my recovery, as this will help speed up the growth of the bone and heal the fracture quicker. My doctor has also given me a training programme for the swimming pool and some floor exercises which will strengthen my back, and I’m not far away from taking the brace off completely.
“I’m massively disappointed not to be going to Ypres, because it’s such a fantastic event. I hope to have another chance at contesting it in the future. The priority for me right now is to get back to full fitness, so I can score more podiums and rally wins in the years ahead.”
Škoda UK Motorsport and Guy wish to thank the doctors and staff at the Multiple Sclerosis Society Therapy Centre in Middlesbrough for their help.
