I was running the test and had just decided to stop after a small fuel pump leak caused a fire which charred the carbon chassis a tiny bit. We were loads quicker than anybody else and had covered the important test items so I decided to be cautious and we were packing up when a youth on a moped arrived asking for me and saying Frank had had an accident and was asking for me.
I assumed he had slid into a ditch and needed a push out (not for the first time) but Nelson was very concerned because he knew the route we took down the hill to the autoroute was dangerous, so we all went.
Nelson had a car phone, almost unknown back then, but not much signal. Nelson, his doctor, Nigel Mansell and myself went. We got to the scene before the ambulance and it was obviously a big shunt, the car was upside down but Peter was out and walking about unmarked. Frank was lying with his head on his briefcase and he looked fine to me, he had a little wound on his head but was complaining his arms hurt, which seemed odd they looked fine.
The ambulance arrived and put him on an inflatable thing before setting off down the hill towards Toulon very slowly. We followed. It became obvious it was serious when the ambulance stopped and a doctor and police car arrived to minister to him by the side of the road.
Nelson finally got through to Bernie Ecclestone, the boss of F1 then and probably Frank's closest friend to tell him.
It was Sunday and when we got to Toulon hospital there was only one young doctor in residence, and it was he who had come up to minister to Frank.
He arranged X-rays. Peter Windsor expected me to take control (!) it is amazing what confidence F1 people have in the engineers, The doctor was obviously overawed and worried to have Frank there. Anyway I looked at the X-rays with him and he explained to me that in his opinion the broken vertebrae had moved far enough to have severed the spinal chord. That was the first shock. He was unsure what to do, the chief doctor was on his way but since he said speed was the essence I suggested he do what he had learned in med school, which was to manipulate the bones back into place before swelling got too much.
When the chief doctor arrived he was obviously "well-oiled", it was after lunch on his day off after all, and annoyed. He said, what are these clowns doing in my surgery, this man is going to die and I am going back to my guests. That was the second shock.
Anyway it had been arranged for an ambulance to take Frank to the big hospital at Marseilles for surgery.
By then Bernie was up to date and I had called Patrick who told Frank's wife, Ginni. Bernie arranged for his 'plane to pick up Professor Sid Watkins, the F1 medical delegate, and bring him to Marseilles. Nigel went in the ambulance with Frank, I went to the airport with Nelson to wait for Sid.
Sid was a bit embarassed. He is (was now sadly) a brain surgeon and knew how good the French doctors are and hoped they weren't offended.
Anyway he went in as an observer and came out to those of us waiting with updates of how it was going. He told us Frank would definitely be quadriplegic but the operation went well. It took all night.
We were travelling home on the Monday so went to the hotel to get some kip. Nigel and I were in the same rental car so we decided to go early to the airport via the hospital to see Frank.
When we got there they didn't want us to go into intensive care. Nigel sent the nurse off to ask somebody more senior and as soon as she went he walked in anyway and I followed. Frank was awake but had loads of external stays holding his head and neck in place.
He looked sideways at Nigel, then at me then said "and who the f*ck is testing then?", so I knew his brain was unaffected.
Thats it really for me, I visited him once he was back in the UK but otherwise it was Ginni and family who looked after his convalescence.
As a keen runner before his super fitness probably saved his life. OTOH he found the exercises he was given during recuperation trivial and didn't bother as a result he did not keep as much strength as he could have had, one of the people with a similar injury who made the lightweight wheelchair Frank ended up with had the same injury but managed to drive with "elbow cup" controls. Amazing.
