A heartfelt thank you more than 30 years after a devastating crash at Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS — She spoke her father’s words, but they also came from her heart.

Standing before the man who reconstructed her father’s legs and feet after his devastating crash at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1992, Julia Piquet’s words trembled.

Through tears, she delivered the message her father, three-time Formula One champion Nelson Piquet, had for Dr. Terry Trammell on Friday at the track’s infield care center.

“He said, ‘Just my sincerest gratitude,’” Julia said with fiancé Daniel Suarez, who starts on the pole for Sunday’s Cup race, with her.

That message, simple in its elegance and meaning, brimmed with memories and moments Julia has had with her father.

A father-daughter dance. Driving lessons with dad. Their conversations through the years and in recent days.

Those experiences could have been so different had her father been injured anywhere but Indianapolis, which had the best medical resources available for injured drivers and was where Trammell was based.

Her father’s crash at Indianapolis happened about 12 hours before Julia was born in Germany.

All that could have been lost was saved.

Trammell’s work helped give Julia the memories she covets, such as the high school senior prom in Brazil that featured a father-daughter dance.

“I got to dance with him. That was really nice,” she told NBC Sports as she teared up.

At age 16, her father told her they were going for pizza in town and she was driving. She had been driving on the family’s properly since age 13, but this was different. It was on public roads, at night and it was raining.

They went to what she called a “hole-in-the-wall” place and father and daughter had a slice of pizza and headed home.

“That was another really, really special memory,” she said.

Just as special have been the conversations through the years. But never had Julia talked much with her father about his crash. She had heard part of the story when she was around and people asked him about it.

She saw the horrific photo of the crash. Her dad’s car slammed into the wall head-on, compressing the front of the car such that his helmet came inches from hitting the concrete wall.

“I think the photos are more shocking than the video,” Julia said.

When she talked to him about the accident and mentioned the photo, he said: “You can only imagine where my legs were.”

Piquet’s bones in his left leg later were described as “pulverized.” He suffered a compound fracture of his right ankle.

Trammell, one of the foremost orthopedic surgeons, led the operation. Trammell was a racing fan who had helped put racecar drivers back together back.

Piquet was extricated from the car and airlifted to a local hospital for immediate surgery. The operation lasted about six hours. Amputation of his left foot and ankle was considered, but that was dismissed after Trammell found a way to save the foot and ankle.

As Piquet and Trammell met on Friday, Trammell shared a story about that operation she had never heard.

“I don’t think I ever told (Nelson),” Trammell told Julia. “During the surgery, there’s a telephone on the wall. A girl answers the phone. … She comes over very timidly and tugs at my gown to stop and says: ‘There’s a man on the phone that says he’s the President of Brazil.

“I don’t think so,” Trammell said.

“Well, he’s very insistent that you come to the phone.”

“Well, I’m kind of busy.”

“No, you’ve got to talk to him.’”

Trammell did.

“It really was the President of Brazil. He wanted to know if there was anything that we needed and how (Piquet) was doing.”

Trammell told him they didn’t need anything, kindly said “nice talking to you, but I don’t really have time to talk.”

Trammell continued to care for Piquet after the surgery. Piquet spent about three weeks in the hospital before moving to a place in Indianapolis to continue his recovery.

“He was so entertaining,” Trammell told Julia of her father. “I never knew what to expect. Every day was an adventure when I’d go to the apartment. We just had a really good relationship.”

Julia and Trammell talked for about 25 minutes before Julia said: “Can I give you a hug?”

They hugged. After a few photos, Julia got her phone to take a selfie with Trammell.

Another memory. This one from the man who helped give her father — and Julia — so much.

Trammel’s work will provide another special moment for Julia with father in the future.

The day he walks her down the aisle.