Flintoff 'thought He Had Died' In Top Gear Crash

Andrew Flintoff has fixed his first relationship of nan car clang he was successful while filming Top Gear, saying he thought he "was dead" successful nan contiguous aftermath.

The England cricketer-turned-TV presenter sustained superior facial and rib injuries erstwhile nan three-wheeler car he was driving for nan BBC motoring programme rolled complete successful 2022.

Speaking successful a caller Disney+ documentary, 'Freddie' Flintoff said that contempt nan trauma, he "remembers everything astir it".

"I thought I was dead, because I was conscious but I couldn't spot anything," he recalled.

"I was thinking, is that it? Is that it? You cognize what I mean? Just achromatic for nan remainder of my days?

"My chapeau came complete my eyes - truthful I pulled my chapeau up and I thought, nary I'm not [dead], I'm connected nan Top Gear track, this is not heaven."

Flintoff past looked down to spot blood, and said his "biggest fear" was that he nary longer had a look left.

"I thought my look had travel off. I was frightened to death."

He recalled being successful "agony" for betwixt half an hr and 40 minutes until an aerial ambulance arrived and he was taken to hospital.

The incident took spot connected 13 December 2022 astatine Top Gear's trial way astatine Dunsfold Park Aerodrome successful Surrey.

He was driving an open-topped Morgan Super 3 erstwhile it flipped and slid, dragging him on nan way during filming.

Speaking successful nan documentary, he described really clip seemed to slow down arsenic nan car rolled over, and really his speedy reactions arsenic a cricketer allowed him to move his caput successful an effort to debar moreover worse injuries.

"As it started going over, I looked astatine nan crushed and I knew, if I get deed present connected nan broadside [of nan head] past I'll break my neck, aliases if I get deed connected nan temple I'm dead. The champion chance is to spell look down.

"And past I retrieve hitting [the ground] and my caput sewage hit," he added. "But past I sewage dragged out, and nan car went over, and I went complete nan backmost of nan car, and past [I got] pulled look down connected nan runway astir 50m underneath nan car. And past I deed nan writer and past [it] flipped back."

Surgeon Jahrad Haq, who treated Flintoff, told nan documentary nan injuries were "very complex" - a substance of difficult and soft insubstantial injuries, surgery teeth, mislaid teeth and elements of nan precocious jaw bony that were besides fractured and displaced.

He "lost a really important information of his precocious articulator - nan tegument and immoderate of nan underlying musculus - and besides his little lip," he said.

Mr Haq said nan injuries were successful nan "top five" successful position of severity of those he had seen during his career.

Reflecting connected nan recovery, Flintoff said he "didn't deliberation I had it successful maine to get through" nan ordeal.

"This sounds awful. Part of maine wishes I'd been killed. Part of maine thinks I wish I'd died," he added.

"I didn't want to termination myself. I don't want to correction nan 2 things. I was not wishing, but thinking, this would person been truthful overmuch easier...

"Now I effort to return nan attitude, you cognize what, nan sun will travel up tomorrow, and past my kids will still springiness maine a hug, and I'm astir apt successful a amended spot now."

One of England's astir successful cricketers, Flintoff antecedently said he is "loving" his return to nan athletics coaching England Lions - nan improvement squad underneath England Men's cricket team.

Flintoff's woman Rachael told nan documentary his return to nan athletics was important connected nan roadworthy to recovery.

"When Andrew needed it most, cricket was location for him," she said. "It sounds a spot weird saying it, a spot complete nan apical to say, but I do deliberation cricket saved him. It gave him a logic for being, again."

The 47-year-old besides returned to tv past twelvemonth pinch a 2nd bid of his BBC programme Freddie Flintoff's Field of Dreams, which saw him return a squad of young cricketers from his hometown of Preston connected a circuit of India, a twelvemonth aft his crash.

The acclaimed bid is up for a Bafta Television Award successful nan actual bid class adjacent month.

He besides hosted a reboot of darts crippled show Bullseye complete Christmas, which will return for a afloat bid later this year.

In 2023, nan BBC "rested" Top Gear for nan foreseeable future. A financial colony was besides reached pinch Flintoff.

The documentary, titled Flintoff, is connected Disney+ from Friday, 25 April.