Freddie Flintoff has revealed he is back behind the wheel again, three years on from his horrendous Top Gear accident.
The legendary English cricketer turned TV presenter, 47, has gradually returned to normality after the 2022 crash he was airlifted to hospital from, suffering gruesome facial injuries requiring multiple surgeries.
On Piers Morgan[1]’s Uncensored talk show[2], he said: ’I’ve only been driving about four months, four or five months… and I’m alright now.
‘To begin with, I was a bit nervy, you know, even playing golf, for a long period of time. I took golf up in the past few years and love it.
‘But I wouldn’t even drive the golf buggy. I can’t walk because my knees are bad, so I get one of my mates to drive. Just being slapped behind the wheel and getting all them thoughts back.
He added: ‘I’m better than I was. But I suppose it’s just always going to be something I’ve got to keep aware of.’
Freddie Flintoff spoke about his recovery and returning to drive again after three years
Flintoff revealed the mental toll of the injuries sustained when filming BBC motoring show Top Gear meant he did not leave the house for between six to eight months (pictured 2022)
Flintoff was driving an open-top Morgan Super 3 three-wheeled sports car when it overturned and crashed off of the Top Gear[3] test track at Dunsfold Aerodrome during filming in December, 2022.
The car is an open-topped motor capable of hitting 130mph – and the father of four, who has been married to wife Rachael for 20 years, wasn’t wearing a helmet when the car flipped over.
His jawbone was smashed along with dozens of teeth, while his face was dragged along the ground at 45mph.
He did not even have the benefit of being unconscious afterwards and there was an agonising 30 to 40 minutes wait for an air ambulance to take him to St George’s Hospital in Tooting, south London.
While the worst of the physical wounds have healed, Flintoff says he is still haunted by the crash and everything comes flooding back to him when he goes to bed every night and he did not leave the house for eight months.
He went on: ‘It’s always a work in progress. You know, I think the crash changed things a hell of a lot.
‘After the crash, I had all types of different treatment from trauma care to psychiatric care, to cognitive tests and this, that and the other. And I stopped after a while.
‘You know, whether it’s right or wrong, I’ve got to get on with this. And there are triggers, and there’s PTSD and flashbacks.
Flintoff was driving a Morgan Super 3 three-wheeled sports car when it overturned and crashed off the Top Gear test track
An image following the horrifying crash was released as part of the trailer for the Disney+ documentary
‘And every time I go to bed at night, I’m back (at the crash).’
‘I suffer from PTSD, I have flashbacks and nightmares, but I’ve probably got more of an acceptance of them now. But I suppose the biggest thing it did do, was it brought me back to cricket.
‘Family and friends and cricket have been things that now, have probably helped me more than anything.’
Top Gear has not returned to air since the crash and Flintoff was reported to have received £9million in compensation from the broadcaster.
Freddie Flintoff (right), pictured recently at Ricky Hatton’s funeral alongside wife Rachael, has revealed he is now back behind the wheel three years after his terrible Top Gear crash
He has since returned to work in the cricketing sphere, working as head coach of the Northern Superchargers and with the England Lions side.
Disney’s Flintoff documentary, released in April this year, heavily featured his wife Rachael who was a pillar of strength throughout the ordeal.
And Flintoff again paid tribute to her, saying: ‘(After the crash) I would get snappy and angry. The kids were incredible . . .
‘The younger one, Preston — he would have been about two, two and a half, at the time — wouldn’t come near me to begin with because I was a mess. It’s all good now.
‘But Rachael was strong. I suppose she had to be for both of us.’
He has since returned to work in the cricketing sphere, working as head coach of the Northern Superchargers and with the England Lions side.
Freddie Flintoff said returning to work in cricket was a massive help in his recovery
He believes his instincts from decades playing the game played a part in saving his life when he turned his head at exactly the right moment to avoid breaking his neck.
He said: ‘I thought, “I’m right handed”. ‘So I just gripped out of my right and gonna try to brace a little bit with my left one . . . I got dragged out and under the car, and it turned out obviously not ideal, but I was alive.
‘And possibly in that moment, that’s probably what saved me. So I’m thankful of that.
‘The hardest bit was not knowing what I looked like. Is my face still on that runway, or what’s left of it?
‘I didn’t want to die, but I didn’t know if I had it in me to carry on. So it was tough. And the only times I left the house, actually, was for medical appointments. I just didn’t want to face the world. I found comfort at home in a room.’
Flintoff has just published a book, Coming Home: The Moments That Made Me, in which he talks about a wide-range of his life experiences including the crash.
He has also filmed a third series of his BBC show Field of Dreams.
References
- ^ Piers Morgan (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Uncensored talk show (www.youtube.com)
- ^ Top Gear (www.dailymail.co.uk)