Flintoff ‘thought he had died’ in Top Gear crash

Andrew Flintoff’s first account of the car crash he was involved in while filming Top Gear claims he thought he was “dead” right away after the incident.

When the three-wheeled vehicle he was driving for the BBC motoring program rolled over in 2022, the cricketer-turned-TV presenter suffered severe facial and rib injuries.

Freddie Flintoff, who appeared in a new Disney+ documentary, said he still remembers everything about the experience.

I was contemplating, “Is that it?” Is that accurate? You are aware of my definition? For the rest of my days, I’m just black.

My hat went over my eyes, so I raised my hat and said, “No, I’m not dead], I’m on the Top Gear track, this is not heaven.”

Flintoff then looked down and said that his “biggest fear” was that he no longer had a face left.

My face appeared to have fallen off. I was terrified to death.

He recalls being in “agony” for 30 to 40 minutes before an air ambulance arrived and took him to the hospital.

The incident occurred at Surrey’s Dunsfold Park Aerodrome on December 13th, 2022, at Top Gear’s test track.

He described how his quick reflexes as a cricket player allowed him to move his head in an effort to prevent even worse injuries as the car rolled over.

As it began to go over, I looked to the ground and knew that if I was struck on the head [on the side], my neck would be broken, or I would be dead if I was struck on the temple. Face down has the best chance of going.

Flintoff’s treatment included “very complex” injuries, according to Surgeon Jahrad Haq, who described the injuries as “very complex,” consisting of both “hard and soft tissue injuries,” broken teeth, lost teeth, and fractured and displaced upper jaw bones.

He claimed that he also lost his lower lip as well as a “really significant portion of his upper lip, which includes some of the skin and some of the underlying muscle.”

Flintoff said in his reflection on the recovery that he “didn’t think I had it in me to get through” the ordeal.

It sounds awful. I long for my own death. I wish I had died, he continued.

I avoided committing suicide. The two things shouldn’t be confused, I hope. This would have been so much simpler, I wasn’t sure if I had wished, but I thought it would have been…

The sun will rise tomorrow, and I’m probably in a better place right now, I’ve tried to take the attitude. “You know what, tomorrow, and then my kids will still give me a hug.”

Flintoff, one of England’s most successful cricketers, previously stated that he is “loving” his return to the sport of coaching the England Lions, the development squad under the England Men’s cricket team.

Rachael Flintoff’s wife described the documentary as having a crucial role in Flintoff’s recovery.

The 47-year-old also made a second season of his BBC show Field of Dreams, which saw him take a group of young cricketers from Preston, England, on an Indian tour a year after his accident.

The highly acclaimed series will be awarded a Bafta Television Award for factual series next month.

Additionally, he oversaw the reboot of Bullseye, a darts game show that will return for a full season later this year.

The BBC “retired” “Top Gear” for a while in 2023. Flintoff and a financial agreement were also reached.