A handwritten letter from Pope Francis to Italian Paralympian Alex Zanardi, who is in a coma after suffering injuries during the Tricolor Goal rally hand-cycle race last Friday, was made public in La Gazzetta dello Sport.
The letter reads as follows, per the Vatican News:
"Dear Alessandro,
"Your story is an example of how to start again after a sudden halt. Through sport you have demonstrated how to live life as protagonists, making disability a lesson in humanity. Thank you for giving strength to those who had lost it.