TOPEKA, Kan. (November 22, 2011) – During the week of Thanksgiving, SCCA member Joe Koenig, of Glenview, Ill., has a long list of things to be thankful for.
Running in the STO race at this year’s SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Road America, Koenig was tapped on the opening lap in his No. 70 DrywallArt.com/Hoosier/Fall-Line BMW M3 going through Canada Corner. While spinning, he was t-boned by a different driver with nowhere to go in an accident that looked serious from the start.
It was.
Koenig was transported to the local hospital with a laundry list of painful injuries: five hairline fractures in his left pelvic ring, a fracture of the sacroiliac joint, three broken ribs, four ribs separated from his sternum with a cartilage tear, five chipped teeth, a bruised clavicle and shoulder, and a severely bruised left femur with small tears in the quad muscle.
Amazingly enough, seven weeks after the injuries, Koenig reports that he’s almost back to full health.
“I’m thankful to be in good physical shape and a fast healer so my road to recovery was rapid,” Koenig said. “In the first week, I used a walker and didn’t go to work, the second I went back to work using a cane. By the third week I was cruising along and the fourth I was starting to sleep through the night. Now in week seven I’m very happy to say I feel 98 percent back to normal. Life is good!”
The 52-year-old knows that it wasn’t just luck that helped him get through it, and credits those that helped.
“There were some positives that came from it,” Koenig said. “The great care from safety workers at Road America, as they are top notch, wonderful care at Freodtert Hospital [in Milwaukee], having my family at my side, all the love that I needed from family and friends, and all the support from SCCA staff and members. I was in a Fall-Line race car that literally saved my ass and left me with many hairline cracks and not big fractures.”
Back to health means back to racing for Koenig.
“Unfotunately, I missed the T2 race later in the weekend and had one of the coolest cars ever built totaled,” Koenig said. “I am selling my T2 Porsche and using the funds to build another BMW V8 supercar, and am hoping to be driving it late summer of 2012.”
With the right attitude, Koenig will be back at Road America next September for the Runoffs. That’s something that all SCCA members can be thankful for.
