SAM SCHMIDT had to wait seventeen years to drive his wife to a date.
He wasn't even meant to be alive at that point, not after what happened to him back in January 2000.
Back then, Schmidt was a racing driver, doing what he loved the most, preparing for a new Indy Racing League season. His goal that year was to win the Indy 500.
Then, one day, his life changed forever. It was during a routine lap of a routine test at Walt Disney World Speedway in Orlando when it happened. In a flash, he lost control of the car and he hit a concrete wall at 180 mph.