Miracle Kid

Camin Hellmich and Takuma Sato at Road America. [Rich Zimmermann Photo]

Photos by Rich Zimmermann

By Eddie LePine

I am originally from Milwaukee and every year that I am in the area on my way to Road America for a race, I hang out in the old neighborhood. A couple of years ago I attended a very early morning hot yoga class on my way to the track when I met and talked with Erik Krawley, who told me an amazing story about his nephew, Camin Hellmich.

Like me, Camin was from the area (he was a 12-year-old student at Kettle Moraine Middle School, near Road America). Also like me, he was an avid go kart racer. He even raced at Dousman, the same track where I had raced 25 years earlier.

However, on June 1, 2017, Camin’s life changed forever. Riding his bike on the way to school, he was struck by a school bus and severely injured, almost fatally. With multiple broken bones and a traumatic brain injury, at the time there was little hope for a full recovery.

That morning at hot yoga, I heard of Camin’s plight and when I arrived at Road America I reached out to Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato, who graciously recorded a video greeting for Camin.

Fast forward two years to the IndyCar race at Road America in 2019 and I am pleased to say that my guest at the race was none other than a fully recovered Camin Hellmich.

The dark days from 2017 are now a distant memory, and since coming out of that two week medically induced coma and having to learn how to walk and talk again, I am pleased to say that Camin has made a 100% recovery and is in fine shape. As he himself says, “I’m fine now – it’s pretty much a miracle”.

This was his very first visit to Road America and I had the pleasure of introducing him to Takuma Sato in person, who had very graciously made a video for Camin two years earlier after winning the Indy 500. Camin said: “He’s really nice and it’s cool that he did that for me.”

Now 14 years old and graduated from middle school, Camin is looking forward to the future. Perhaps inspired by all the positive messages from the racing community, and in particular Takumo Sato, we may have another racing super star in the making. After all, when he awoke from his coma, his first words were: “When can I get back to racing my go kart?”.

What an inspiring young man.

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