Against All Odds, A Story of Passion, Courage, and Determination!

12.10.2009

 

It was a fairytale end to the season for Raoul Hyman, when he won all four races in the South African Rotax Max Challenge Finals to become the South African National Champion in Karting’s very competitive Mini Max class.

Driving a CRG Chassis for the Ed Murray Racing Team, Raoul qualified third on Saturday, but then went on to win every one of his races over the weekend, taking the lead in the Final on the very last lap in a memorable overtaking manoeuvre. It all looked very simple, but that is not how it was behind the scenes!

Six days before the Final, Raoul severed his middle finger in a freak karting accident during testing. After being rushed to hospital and spending an hour and a half in surgery, Doctors ruled out any chance of the 13year old competing in the Final. His finger was reattached and held together by a steel pin. Having severed both his artery and bone, surgeons were concerned about whether his finger would survive. There was very little chance that the youngster would race. He was both distraught and devastated. His response was to ‘trust God for a miracle.’ With friends, family, and karters standing by him, he pinned all hope on this miracle when surgeons examined him on Thursday afternoon, just five days after the accident and two days before the Finals. He received his miracle, and was reluctantly cleared to race. A brace was made for his finger and had to be remade on the Friday before the race to enable him to hold the steering wheel. He also had to come off pain killers in order to ensure that he passed random doping tests if he competed.

This however was the least of his problems. As a result of a shortage of Bridgestone tyres, the tyre compound for the Finals had been changed to one that he had not raced or tested on. Whilst all his competitors were pounding around the track in testing the week before the Final, Raoul was preoccupied with having his severed finger re-attach itself.

To the amazement of all his fellow karters he pitched up at the Finals on race morning with a heavily braced finger and a modified glove. He qualified third and then won every one of his races, even setting the fastest time in the Final race of the day.

This was probably the most popular win of the Finals, as the karting community rallied around to congratulate a very determined young man. His response “all praise be to God!”