His racing career effectively ended when his steering column weld failed on his Lotus 18 in the 1960 Belgian Grand Prix at . He was thrown from the car, cutting down a tree with his body and broke several bones (Alan Stacey and Chris Bristow were killed and Stirling Moss was also injured at the event, crashing his Lotus 18 in practice). He was paralysed, but after therapy was able to regain the ability to walk.