Discussion
grumpy52 said:
zarjaz1991 said:
Billy is incredible but as I posted some time back after he gave a particular interview, sometimes his expression and tone of voice are giving away a real sadness within him at what he has lost. That is evident in this programme at times as well.
I hope that in the long years to come, as his parents age and the public fuss has died down, that he is able to cope. "After the Lord Mayor's Parade", so to speak.
I hope I don't sound too negative. He's truly awesome, I just feel so bad for him and what has happened to him has got to have hurt him mentally.
He does seem to have shut away something , I do find him to be an amazing young man and believe he will be the first disabled champion .I hope that in the long years to come, as his parents age and the public fuss has died down, that he is able to cope. "After the Lord Mayor's Parade", so to speak.
I hope I don't sound too negative. He's truly awesome, I just feel so bad for him and what has happened to him has got to have hurt him mentally.
Maybe his ability to close some things away is that thing that separates the champions from the also rans .
If you spend any time with champions you soon realise that they are different to the rest of us .
grumpy52 said:
He does seem to have shut away something , I do find him to be an amazing young man and believe he will be the first disabled champion .
Maybe his ability to close some things away is that thing that separates the champions from the also rans .
If you spend any time with champions you soon realise that they are different to the rest of us .
Maybe he's blanked it all out. Maybe that's the only way to handle it. I have no idea. Maybe his ability to close some things away is that thing that separates the champions from the also rans .
If you spend any time with champions you soon realise that they are different to the rest of us .
It is obvious he will be a long standing champion of something, of that there is no doubt, and yes champions ARE different to everyone else, so maybe it's just that.
I struggle to comprehend his situation to be honest. It's too awful.
It was great to see him walking unaided in this video, at times he didn't even have crutches and you'd almost never know. There's a huge amount of effort gone into that alone. How do you even start?
Munter said:
I don't know. To me he looks like those of us who answer the question and then can get embarrassed that the person looking at you wanted more than the answer, but there's nothing else in your head to say.
Several times he seemed genuinely lost for words when people much older than him approached him and said what an inspiration he was to them.What DO you say if someone says that? How could a 17 year old boy possibly know what to say?
zarjaz1991 said:
Munter said:
I don't know. To me he looks like those of us who answer the question and then can get embarrassed that the person looking at you wanted more than the answer, but there's nothing else in your head to say.
Several times he seemed genuinely lost for words when people much older than him approached him and said what an inspiration he was to them.What DO you say if someone says that? How could a 17 year old boy possibly know what to say?
zarjaz1991 said:
Billy is incredible but as I posted some time back after he gave a particular interview, sometimes his expression and tone of voice are giving away a real sadness within him at what he has lost. That is evident in this programme at times as well.
I hope that in the long years to come, as his parents age and the public fuss has died down, that he is able to cope. "After the Lord Mayor's Parade", so to speak.
I hope I don't sound too negative. He's truly awesome, I just feel so bad for him and what has happened to him has got to have hurt him mentally.
I was quite surprised he didn't meet any soldiers/marines who also have lost limbs and then had the whole we've all had a really sI hope that in the long years to come, as his parents age and the public fuss has died down, that he is able to cope. "After the Lord Mayor's Parade", so to speak.
I hope I don't sound too negative. He's truly awesome, I just feel so bad for him and what has happened to him has got to have hurt him mentally.
t day in the office and that's never going to change but we can still carry on doing the stuff we want , maybe slightly differently but we can still be active and do stuff .But he didn't , he'd got his head around it seemingly right after the op all on his own.
zarjaz1991 said:
Maybe he's blanked it all out. Maybe that's the only way to handle it.
From my personal experience I'd say you are correct when you say he has blanked it out.The trouble is that in private when it all get to much he will let it out and his parents and sister will have to cope.
But they will all cope because they love him. It really is a simple as that IMHO.
.......
Watching him drive the car in the wet showed to me that he has a talent but to be honest in the F3 race he did look like he was over driving the car, maybe it was a case of get a result or we can't pay for you anymore.
What ever he is a very brave and amazing person.
I wish him every luck in his future what ever that is.
Munter said:
grumpy52 said:
zarjaz1991 said:
Billy is incredible but as I posted some time back after he gave a particular interview, sometimes his expression and tone of voice are giving away a real sadness within him at what he has lost. That is evident in this programme at times as well.
I hope that in the long years to come, as his parents age and the public fuss has died down, that he is able to cope. "After the Lord Mayor's Parade", so to speak.
I hope I don't sound too negative. He's truly awesome, I just feel so bad for him and what has happened to him has got to have hurt him mentally.
He does seem to have shut away something , I do find him to be an amazing young man and believe he will be the first disabled champion .I hope that in the long years to come, as his parents age and the public fuss has died down, that he is able to cope. "After the Lord Mayor's Parade", so to speak.
I hope I don't sound too negative. He's truly awesome, I just feel so bad for him and what has happened to him has got to have hurt him mentally.
Maybe his ability to close some things away is that thing that separates the champions from the also rans .
If you spend any time with champions you soon realise that they are different to the rest of us .
By the way, a bit disappointed - this being Pistonheads and all that - that nobody has yet mentioned that his sister is rather easy on the eye!
When he first had his accident there was a radio interview with a woman who lost her legs and started playing wheelchair rugby.
She was saying until then she never had a criminal record ( the whole team went on the piss and got arrested ) and that in some ways she's lived more post being in a wheel chair than before .
She was saying until then she never had a criminal record ( the whole team went on the piss and got arrested ) and that in some ways she's lived more post being in a wheel chair than before .
Finally caught up last night. Good uplifting bit of TV. As well as all of the obvious it was very brave for Billy and family to invite a film crew to document his rehabilitation from as early as three months after the accident when they would have had no idea about whether he would be able to race a single seater again let alone be competitive. I knew he had scored poles and podiums since the accident but I had no idea he was on the podium for his first race back. An incredible achievement. Nobody in F3 is fking about.
king about. zarjaz1991 said:
Billy is incredible but as I posted some time back after he gave a particular interview, sometimes his expression and tone of voice are giving away a real sadness within him at what he has lost. That is evident in this programme at times as well.
Don't read too much into it IMO, I imagine talking in front of the camera and recording voiceovers comes naturally to very few teenagers. skeggysteve said:
Watching him drive the car in the wet showed to me that he has a talent but to be honest in the F3 race he did look like he was over driving the car, maybe it was a case of get a result or we can't pay for you anymore.
Never driven an F3 car of any type so I don't know, what I will say is you aren't driving that poorly if you are on the podium on debut. Also I found the 'on track action' element of the documentary excruciating, they chopped the footage about so much, there was footage clearly from the green flag lap spliced into the middle of the race etc... Don't think you can trust it. The most incredible thing is possibly the speed with which Billy's brain must've rewired itself- being able to respond to cues from the car and redirect those instinctive reactions learned over a decade of racing to his hand controls rather than his feet. I realise he still brakes using his leg, however it was his right and I presume he would've been braking with his left foot before?
Learning the hand throttle, and dealing with it simultaneously with steering angle, learning to brake with his right upper leg instead of his left leg / foot, and doing that in a matter of a handful of months?
I'd have been impressed if he had been battling to get into the top 10, and never saw the podium again...
Also, Jesus Christ- the upper body strength to haul yourself out of a confined, high sided carbon tub race car within the FIA's driver exit time?
Learning the hand throttle, and dealing with it simultaneously with steering angle, learning to brake with his right upper leg instead of his left leg / foot, and doing that in a matter of a handful of months?
I'd have been impressed if he had been battling to get into the top 10, and never saw the podium again...
Also, Jesus Christ- the upper body strength to haul yourself out of a confined, high sided carbon tub race car within the FIA's driver exit time?
Dave Brand said:
Looks like I'm the only one who found that programme intensely boring. 15 minutes' worth of material stretched out to an hour.
The content of the programme for me was largely irrelevant - it was used as vehicle to highlight the trials and tribulations of a quite remarkable fella who just happens to be a teenager and whom has already had more to cope with and overcome than most of us will in all our lives. I'm sure the film isn't aimed at the normal and educated people like us, but those weirdos who know nothing about our World of cars and Motorsport maybe? Finally got around to watching this. I was surprised to be moved watching a story that I already knew. He’s an extraordinary character to just put everything he’s lost to one side in pursuit of his goal.
It’s the first time I’ve re-watched the accident since it happened. I was watching the live TV coverage at the time, and my first thought as the rear of the other car came towards the camera was he’d suffered a head injury. It looks like his carbon fibre helmet took quite an impact, but did it’s job well.
I don’t know how far his tallent would have taken him if not for the accident, but it’s amazing that he’s been competitive this season after re-training his brain to drive without his feet in a short period of time. I really hope he’s able to make a career as a racing driver, even if it’s not in F1.
It’s the first time I’ve re-watched the accident since it happened. I was watching the live TV coverage at the time, and my first thought as the rear of the other car came towards the camera was he’d suffered a head injury. It looks like his carbon fibre helmet took quite an impact, but did it’s job well.
I don’t know how far his tallent would have taken him if not for the accident, but it’s amazing that he’s been competitive this season after re-training his brain to drive without his feet in a short period of time. I really hope he’s able to make a career as a racing driver, even if it’s not in F1.
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