Reprinted from The Seattle Times, August 31, 1982
John Walters is "showing significant progress" in recovering from injuries suffered Aug. 8 when the unlimited hydroplane he was driving crashed on Lake Washington, a Harborview Medical Center spokeswoman said yesterday.
Walters, 28, of Renton, was injured during the Emerald Cup race when his boat, the Pay 'n Pak, and two other hydros, the Executone and the Squire Shop. collided during an early heat. No other driver was seriously injured.
Walters is in satisfactory condition, following the expected course of recovery "for someone who suffered severe frontal lobe contusions (head injuries)," said Lita Edwards, the spokeswoman.
The injuries initially caused "confusion, an inability to communicate effectively and for which recovery is usually slow but expected," she said.
"Most of the time now, Walters is alert and converses with his family and hospital staff," she said.
He is in a body cast for his broken back, but not paralysis has been detected, she said. he also suffered a broken arm and leg.
Walters will probably stay at Harborview for sever more weeks, she said.
Two days after the accident, David J. Heerensperger, Pay 'n Pak board chairman, announced the retail firm was dropping its unlimited hydroplane sponsorship immediately. In 1980, Walters was hospitalized for two weeks after an accident in a race at Pasco.
Heerensperger said, "Although it is a very exciting sport, after two accidents involving Pay 'n Pak in the last three years, I do not want to continue."
