22nd June 2003
As the third anniversary approaches, I again
wish to pay tribute to a marshalling colleague who paid the ultimate
sacrifice helping and supporting the sport he so dearly loved.
God be with you Andy.
Le
Mans was a very good time, with a mixture of emotions. Before
the racing started, I laid a wreath where I thought Andy's
ashes were buried (apparently it was some 15 feet away from
that spot, but that was only shown to me later in the week),
and with some of his colleagues from Brands Hatch, we toasted
to his memory.
The reaction of Bernard Nirrengarten, Andy's post chief,
was wonderful in that he allowed me access to the post,
etc, which normal spectators aren't allowed to do. Even
allowing Jackie and I to drive the race circuit early on
the Saturday morning so that I could film our drive.
It has to be said that prior to the accident Le Mans was
both a passion and a goal to get to marshal at, but I honestly
thought the accident had killed off any chance of achieving
this. I now have completed the first half, of just being
there, and it has helped to strengthen my resolve to marshal
that post in the future.
This weekend is this year's running of the Festival of Speed,
and I will be there over all three days. My first job will
be to leave a white rose on the stone at the finish line,
a tradition I started last year and intend to carry out
for the rest of my life. |
Le
Mans Poste 106
June 2003
(Left
to Right)
Peter Weedon, Peter Scillitoe, Colin Hicks, Bob Moorman
and Steve Tarrant
Click
for larger image
|
2nd August 2000
Goodwood crash man recovering
by Paula Tegerdine
A Poole man left fighting for his life following a 150mph accident
at the Goodwood Festival of speed is slowly making a recovery.
Stephen Tarrant was a race marshal at the event on June 25 when
a Lotus crashed during a timed hill-climb, killing the driver
and another marshal. Since then, the 39-year-old from Esmonde
Way, Canford Heath, has been undergoing specialist treatment
at Charing Cross Hospital.
His wife Jackie said "He was very badly hurt but he is quite
bright in himself. Now he has had a tracheotomy removed he can
talk normally."
Driver of the car, the Hon. John Dawson Damer and race marshal
Andrew Carpenter, 40, from Eastbourne, were both killed in the
crash.
The 59-year-old Eton-educated driver was behind the wheel of
a restored 1969 three-litre Lotus which was once used by ex-world
champion Mario Andretti. It crashed 100 yards from the finish
line, smashing into a safety hay bale, then ramming into a wooden
finish line gantry before hitting the two marshals.
The results of an inquiry into the accident are due to be published
in August.
Stephen Tarrant has undergone a series of operations since the
accident and was only allowed solid food for the first time
last week having been fed intravenously up until then. Skin
grafts have been taken from his left thigh and used on the remains
of his right leg which is healing well. But a 10 hour operation
to remove muscle from under his right arm to graft into the
left leg to replace what was torn off in the accident has failed
and the muscle has had to be removed.
Damage to the lower left leg is now expected to take a long
time to improve and he is not expected to leave hospital for
at least two to three months. Mrs. Tarrant added, "Up to now
Steve has been kept in the prone position, but following his
latest operation he will be able to sit out of a chair." She
added, "Our thanks to everyone who has sent cards and asked
about Steve, and particularly our two employers Liverpool Victoria
Friendly Society and Abbey Life who have been most supportive."
Top
21st September 2000
Miracle marshal is fighting back
by Andrew Wright
Determined Poole man Stephen Tarrant, who has cheated death
four times, is now on the way to recovery and smiling through
the pain.
Twelve weeks ago, the 39-year-old computer and telecommunications
engineer survived being hit by a Formula One racing car travelling
at 140mph. Further miracles followed as Stephen battled in hospital
to cling on to life - surviving blood poisoning, gangrene and
a blood clot - as his wife Jackie maintained a bedside vigil.
"My husband was incredibly lucky to survive. We nearly lost
him four times since the accident," said Jackie, 38, who works
for the Liverpool Victoria insurance company in Westbourne.
"He's got to learn to walk again - he's really keen to get going,"
added Jackie, who confessed the past 12 weeks had been "awful"
with her not knowing if her husband would survive his first
nights in hospital.
The horrific accident happened on 24th June at the Goodwood
Festival of Speed's hill climb in West Sussex as Stephen of
Esmonde Way, Canford Heath, was a volunteer race marshal at
the finish line. The Lotus racing car lost control, spun and
smashed into hay bales, killing another marshal and the driver.
Now Stephen, who worked for Bournemouth insurance company Abbey
Life and remembers nothing of the accident, has been transferred
to Poole Hospital after treatment in London. "I was very lucky
- it was a case of someone obviously looking after me for some
reason," he said. "You can lay back in bed and become a vegetable
or you can accept you're only halfway through your life and
you've got to start doing things again. Nothing is impossible.
I'm totally optimistic about the future - there's no point in
being any other way," he added.
The accident meant Stephen lost his right leg, had the bones
in his left leg shattered, suffered internal injuries and lost
a lot of blood. Since the life-changing accident, he has had
skin and muscle grafts to replace tissue that had been ripped
away. "Without the support Jackie has given me, it would have
been very difficult for me to manage on my own," he explained.
The shattered bones of his left leg are held by pins and he
will have to wear an adjustable metal frame for at least a year.
After the treatment - including the fitting of an artificial
right leg - Stephen wants to return to work and his leisure
passions of cycling, driving and motorsport marshalling. "Motorsport
has been part of me for 35 years and I see no reason to stop
it just because of one accident," said Stephen, who has been
under heavy sedation during his first four weeks in hospital.
Top
28th February 2001
A
huge step for race crash man.
Steve Tarrant
says he is lucky to be alive. It was an emotional moment for
the man who survived after being hit by a 100mph racing car.
Poole man Steve Tarrant took his first outside steps on his
new artificial leg at a New Forest pub that was the venue for
his parents-in-law's wedding anniversary dinner.
After more than three months in hospital - and cheating death
four times because of medical complications - Mr Tarrant, 40,
was nervously watched by his family. The computer and telecommunications
engineer not only managed to get out of the car but step on
to the pavement and walk around the pub. "I was ecstatically
happy, if shattered. It was a very big moment," he said. "Every
step is almost a challenge - learning what you can and can't
do, and how you go about doing it," added Mr Tarrant, who survived
blood poisoning, gangrene and a blood clot.
Now, step by step, Mr Tarrant, of Esmonde Way, Canford Heath,
is walking his way back to health after cheating death at last
June's Goodwood Festival of Speed in Sussex where he was a volunteer
race marshal. "I consider myself very lucky to have survived
that and the illnesses in hospital afterwards so now I can walk,"
he said. Surgeons saved his almost severed left leg - fitting
an adjustable metal frame to fuse the shattered bones - and
performing delicate skin grafts. That frame has been removed
with the leg recovered so it can support Mr Tarrant's 18 stone
without assistance.
His horrific stomach and head wounds have also healed. But he
could not have recovered without the support of his wife Jackie
- and the messages of support from friends and family. "She
has stood by me all the way. It has strengthened the marital
bond between us. I've been given a second chance," he said.
At this July's Festival of Speed, Mr Tarrant will lay a wreath
in memory of the race marshal who was killed. That weekend he
will be carrying out a desk job in race control but he hopes
to get back to marshalling during mid-July.
"Each and every day I realise how lucky I am to be alive. I
now look on life differently - you tend to do more today rather
than keep putting it off for tomorrow," he explained. "I've
been given a second chance but some people aren't that lucky."
Top
21st July 2001
Marshal returns to Goodwood
Festival
The safety marshal who lost his leg in the accident
that killed colleague Andy Carpenter and driver John Dawson-Damer
at last year's Goodwood Festival of Speed returned to the event
this year.
Steve Tarrant was working in race control last weekend, but
was also treated to a high-speed ride up the course with Jenson
Button in a Renault Clio V6. "That was fantastic," he said.
"From having no recall of the Festival, I now have ultimate
memories."
Top
9th
-16th June 2003
Jackie and I attended the Le Mans 24 Hours. Worked
on post 106, the same one Andy Carpenter had done for the 10
years prior to the accident and where some of his ashes are
buried. Took over a chaplet that we put in place on the Tuesday
before the event started, and which remains there now.
NEWS [ 792 ] - 28 Jun 2004
ZANARDI MEETS AMPUTEE MARSHAL
On Sunday morning in Donington Park, during
the autograph session, Alessandro Zanardi met Steve Tarrant,
an amputee motorsport marshal. Four years ago, Tarrant lost
his right leg when he was hit by a racing car during the 2000
Goodwood Festival of Speed; an accident that cost the lives
of the driver, John Dawson-Damer, and another marshal, Andy
Carpenter.
“He sent me a few messages right after
my accident, which were both moving and encouraging. And when
he contacted me again a few months ago, saying that he wished
to meet me personally at Donington, I was very pleased,”
Zanardi said.
“For me this was a great emotion. Both
Alex and I we love our sport very much, and we are still participating
despite what happened to us. Life’s going on, this is
our passion and we’ve got to live it,” added Steve
Tarrant, who runs a website on his own career: http://www.stevetarrant-marshal.co.uk
