Ulcerative Colitis

Early in 2002, I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. It's a chronic disease: the large intestines become ulcerated, causing the intestines to bleed and lose functionality. This results in a major loss in nutrients, uncontrollable bleeding, and loss of bowel control. Halfway though the 2003 season, things were not looking good in the championship I was contesting. I was anemic and very debilitated by the disease which had progressed rapidly in severity. At that time we all decided it was best to try a different type of medication and go back home so that my mom could take care of me. Coping with my disease that would be with me for the rest of my life was a way bigger priority than my racing career.

After almost 2 months, with limited results, we decided to go back for the last race in the British F3 and see my Austrian specialist again. From December 2003 until August 2004 the story was the same. The only difference was that I was now having great results and finally making a name for myself in Europe. This was enough to let my Colitis digress to an all time low. With almost four straight weekends of racing, away from my home in Austria, I had reached my bottom. When I returned to the Red Bull Training Center after my double win in Bruno, Czech Republic I had a Hemoglobin level of 8.3. Anyone who has dealt with a loss of blood and anemia will know that this is extremely low. Low enough in fact, that doctors and the Red Bull Training Center told me I needed a blood transfusion.

After this news, we decided to try one more doctor in Vienna, Austria by the name of Dr. Christoph Gasche. The first visit and Colonoscopy with Dr. Gasche in July 2004 was definitely hard to take in. He told me that I had a very serious problem and that my disease had expanded throughout all my large intestines. He advised that I needed to seriously think about either surgically removing my large intestines and replacing them with a bag that you wear on your waist, or stop racing to lower my stress level. Luckily he wanted to try one more type of medication and add an Iron IV into my rehabilitation.

Within a month of starting my new medications, I had regained bowel control and the bleeding had stopped. It was a feeling I hadn't had for almost 2 years. From this point on, I no longer needed to worry about making it to the bathroom. My only focus was on rehabilitation and gaining the physical strength to drive an F1 car.

To come from almost two years of living with the disease to being physically able to drive a GP2 car for a 180km race or test an F1 car has been a long and tough journey. But thanks so much to the Red Bull Training Center in Thalgau, Austria, and all my good friends at Endurance Rehab (Scottsdale, AZ), I have come a huge distance with my physical fitness and mental toughness in dealing with such a disease. Although my fitness is still a huge focus in my daily life, I am now able to drive GP2 and F1 race cars. Thank you so much to all that have helped make this possible.