Abbie Eaton recalls 'crushed vertebrae' in W Series crash which broke her back
- Published
'The scary thought is that I could have been paralysed' - W Series driver Abbie Eaton on breaking her back
British W Series driver Abbie Eaton says she has "never felt pain like it" as she recovers from a crash which broke her back in October.
Eaton, 29, was racing at the Circuit of the Americas when she clipped a 'sausage kerb', which launched her into the air.
She recalled "hearing my vertebrae crush" and later called the use of sausage kerbs "ridiculous".
Speaking to BBC Sport, Eaton said there is "no place" for that type of kerb.
There have been several incidents since the kerbs were introduced to discourage drivers from running wide.
Eaton says she was fortunate not to be paralysed and is now on the road to recovery - wearing a rigid brace to help her back heal in the correct position.
"Sausage kerbs are basically a long strip of kerb and the ones in America are like super-high, really quite aggressive," Eaton explained.
"I heard my vertebrae crush, and at that point I thought 'OK, I know I have broken my back here', but I was pointing up to the sky and I was thinking 'I've got to land again so I hope this doesn't get any worse'," she added.
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Former Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel emailed Eaton after hearing about the incident, and rallied other drivers to lobby race director Michael Masi to have the kerbs into turn one removed for the F1 race at the same track, earlier this year.
"Seb basically went up to Michael Masi and said 'we're not racing unless you remove them'," she said.
An FIA spokesperson told BBC Sport: "The FIA constantly reviews all aspects of circuit safety, and will continue to evaluate the implementation of different types of kerbs and their effectiveness, specifically considering the different types of cars and the unique circumstances of each individual corner where they are used."
'Deep breaths are still painful'
Eaton, who is undergoing basic rehabilitation, added: "I've never experienced pain like it. Even now it's still painful if I want to take deep breaths. There's still some way to go.
"I think I've got to be realistic and not look too far ahead. I've just got to wait and see how my body heals. Hopefully the initial MRI scan was good, and if it heals as it is, then it should almost be like it never happened."
Eaton grew up as the daughter of a racing driver, and started karting at the age of 10, reaching national level at 15.
She made her adult racing debut in 2009 in the Production Touring Car Championship, where she won 15 of her 18 races, and went on to win the MX5 Super Cup Championship.
Eaton moved into British GT, racing a Maserati GT4, and came second in the Pro-Am Championship, and she has competed in the Blancpain Endurance GT3, where she won her class.
In 2018, she joined the cast of Amazon's The Grand Tour to become their test driver.
Initially one of W Series' critics, after watching the inaugural season, and seeing how it helped to develop the drivers' careers, she became a convert.