INDIANAPOLIS -- In the span of a year, IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe has traveled from a life-threatening injury to the pole position at the Indianapolis 500.
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Hinchliffe was critically injured in a crash during practice for the 2015 Indianapolis 500.
"It's crazy to think that my first ever pole comes at the Speedway a year after what happened, and the 100th running of the biggest race in history," Hinchcliffe said.
Last year a mechanical failure during practice sent Hinchcliffe's car into the wall – and a part of the suspension into his body.
Dr. Tim Pohlman, a senior trauma surgeon at IU Health Methodist Hospital, was at the track's infield medical center and jumped into the ambulance that took the driver to Methodist.
"The injury was higher than portrayed in the press," Pohlman said. "It was in his abdomen and torso, and hit an artery that literally could have killed him."
Pohlman's first job was to control the bleeding in the ambulance and then at the hospital. The driver was in and out of consciousness and at one point had no pulse. He lost 65 percent of his blood. According to Pohlman, Hinchcliffe had just two minutes left to live before his surgery.
"He survived an injury that most of us could not have survived," Pohlman said. "I think he gave me the two minutes I needed to get him from the elevator to the operating room."
After a painful, but quick, recovery, Hinchcliffe now finds himself leading the Indianapolis 500.
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IU Health will honor Dr. Pohlman on race day as one of its Hoosier Heroes for saving Hinchcliffe's life.
