SportsTechie: From Devastating Crash To Startup Wonder, Sana Health Founder Sweeps Sports Tank
A feature on Sana Health in SportsTechie. Sana won two awards at TPG Sports Group-organized, fourth annual Sports Tank competition for sports technology startups, claiming both the Under Armour Innovation Award and the Martin Group’s Most Buzzworthy Award.
Richard Hanbury and a schoolmate were traversing Yemen in a Jeep when a car pulled out from behind a petrol truck and sped toward them on a narrow bridge. The truck blocked Hanbury’s ability to swerve laterally out of harm’s way. He faced a split-second decision: either veer off the bridge or collide head-on with the car.
“I figured we were dead either way,” Hanbury recalled. “Then in that split second I had an image of my dad wandering around the country looking for my remains to find. I was like, if we go off the bridge, we’re dead anyway, but at least if we go off the bridge, he’ll have something to find.”
He veered off the bridge. The pair survived the crash, but barely. Hanbury suffered debilitating injuries including a T10 vertebra fracture, an aortic tear and such excruciating nerve-damage pain that doctors gave him only five years to live.