Zanardi to remain in coma until at least next week

Alex Zanardi has been on a ventilator since he crashed his handbike into a truck near the Tuscan town of Pienza on Friday during a relay event.

Alex Zanardi lost both his legs in an auto racing crash nearly 20 years ago.

Alex Zanardi will remain in a medically induced coma until at least next week.

The hospital in Siena where he is being treated, after a crash on his handbike, made the announcement on Tuesday.

The Italian auto racing champion-turned-Paralympic gold medalist

remained in “stable condition” following a fourth night in intensive care at Santa Maria alle Scotte Hospital.

"Eventual reductions of the (coma), in order to evaluate his neurological state, will be taken into consideration starting next week,” the hospital said in a medical bulletin.

Zanardi, who lost both of his legs in an auto racing crash nearly 20 years ago, has been on a ventilator since he crashed his handbike into a truck near the Tuscan town of Pienza on Friday during a relay event.

The 53-year-old Zanardi won two championships in CART in the United States and had two stints in Formula One. During a CART race in Germany in 2001 both of his legs were severed in a horrific accident. Zanardi designed his own prosthetics and learned to walk again.