From a hospital bed to a maiden podium in two weeks, the story is one which Timo Glock will be able to recount until his final breath.
The fact Glock walked away from the mangled wreckage of his Toyota at the German Grand Prix underlines the immeasurable improvement with regard to safety in recent years.
It was an accident that certainly appeared frightening at the time as Glock hurtled backwards into a concrete wall following a rear suspension failure on his car as he emerged out of the final turn.
The force of the impact knocked the air out of his lungs, and when he eventually clambered out of the cockpit of a battered monocoque that had come to rest on the opposing side of the Hockenheim track, he did so nursing only his back.
The shunt was certainly less horrific than the one involving Robert Kubica at the Canadian Grand Prix last year.
On that occasion the Pole sustained nothing more than concussion when many thought, as they witnessed his BMW Sauber shatter into pieces after he too hurtled head long into concrete, he had been seriously injured, or worse.
With Glock, it was again one of those which had it had taken place over a decade or so ago there would more than likely have been a significantly different outcome.
Not that it would have claimed Glock's life, but without doubt he would not have been spraying champagne following a surprise second-placed finish in Sunday's subsequent grand prix in Hungary.
Before the race Glock had laughed off his smash, with the 26-year-old insisting it appeared worse than it felt, which was lucky for him to say.
Mercifully for Glock he should be thankful he is driving in an era when not only Formula One, but other motor sport series, benefit from an array of life-saving aids.
The deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna during the same weekend of the ill-fated 1994 San Marino Grand Prix were a turning point for the sport.
It is undeniably a shame such a tragic loss of life forced the hand of world governing body the FIA, but sadly there are times when it takes a traumatic event to shake the old system to its roots and so bring about change.
The monocoque - the protective shell that encases a driver when he sits in his race seat - have been strengthened to such a phenomenal degree they are almost bullet proof.
The HANS (head and neck safety) device was brought into F1 in 2001 after years of pioneering research by Robert Hubbard, a professor of biomechanical engineering at Michigan State University in Ohio.
The system, which is secured to the helmet, prevents the head from whipping around throughout an accident and causing a basilar skull fracture, an injury that caused Ratzenberger's death.
Without question, the device also came to Glock's aid in Germany.
While it is hard to quantify what might have transpired without it, it at least guaranteed a happier story unfolded in Hungary, one he will never forget.
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No matter where you travel around the world you always have to be on your guard.
Take the example of team mechanic - who perhaps not surprisingly wished to remain nameless - who was returning to his hotel in Budapest in a taxi last week. Nothing wrong with that you may think.
However, after passing his hotel, and despite plaintive cries to 'stop', the taxi driver proceeded to drive on and park down a quiet street.
That was where the mechanic was greeted by two thugs who marched him to a cash machine and ordered him to withdraw 100,000 forints (Ј340).
Just goes to show, even such an unassuming event can result in the most dire of consequences.
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When asked where he was heading on holiday for the current F1 summer break, McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen replied it would be to the place of his birth in Finland.
"In my family I make the decisions where I go. I don't know what my girlfriend will do, but it is my holiday," remarked Kovalainen.
A smiling Fernando Alonso was quick to point out to Kovalainen that give it two years and it would be his girlfriend calling the shots.
Bearing in mind the issues that plagued Alonso during a torrid time at McLaren last season, Kovalainen jokingly hit back with "this is a team order in my team".
Ouch! As put downs go, Alonso must have winced inside at that one.
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