Niki Lauda has been released from AKH Vienna hospital more than two months since being admitted for a life-threatening lung transplant, the Formula 1 legend and Mercedes boss once again defied the odds to pull through as he did over forty years ago.
The 69-year-old, who underwent the six-hour surgery at the Vienna General Hospital, now has to undergo intensive rehabilitation for several weeks, the hospital said in a statement.
The Austrian motor racing legend’s condition had been described as “extremely critical” at the time of the surgery. Niki Lauda’s doctors will hold a news conference on Thursday.
Lauda formed the Laudamotion airline out of the Austrian unit of failed Air Berlin early this year and later sold 75 percent of it to Ryanair.
AKH released the following press release statement: “About two and a half months after undergoing a lung transplant, at the Vienna General Hospital, three-time Formula 1 World Champion Niki Lauda was able to leave the hospital in good general condition on Wednesday.”
“Niki Lauda now has to undergo intensive rehabilitation for several weeks. The attending physicians and the nursing staff wish the 69-year-old a good course.”
“Of course, Niki Lauda, like all other transplant patients, will continue to be cared for by the lung transplantation team of the AKH Vienna or the MedUni Vienna.”
A triple F1 World Champion, Lauda survived a horrific accident during the 1976 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring. He nearly lost his life in the fireball that ensued only to be rescued by fellow drivers on a day the circuit lived up to its name: The Green Hell.
Lauda was administered the last rights but he survived, delivered the gutsiest of comebacks and the rest is part of the Formula 1 legend immortalised on the silver screen by the movie Rush.
Additional Sources: Reuters