Here’s what you need to know:
The cricket star has been speaking candidly about the aftermath of his horror crash while filming Top Gear
Freddie Flintoff has hearbreakingly recalled how his son was ‘frightened’ of him in the aftermath of his horror crash while filming Top Gear.
The former England cricket star was a co-host on the BBC One motoring show alongside Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris from 2019 up until the accident in 2022.
While filming for Top Gear on December 13, 2022, Freddie was driving an open-topped three-wheeled Morgan Super 3 at high speed on the test track at Dunsfold Park Aerodrome in Surrey, when it flipped over.
The father-of-four was airlifted to hospital with severe facial injuries and several broken ribs. Now, his wife has recalled the terrifying moment she was informed of her husband’s accident.
Looking back in Freddie’s new documentary, Flintoff, coming to Disney+ on Friday (April 25), she recalled: “I got a phone call. Andy’s been in an accident, in Top Gear, but we don’t have much information.
“I think they might take him to the nearest hospital, but it sounds like it’s just his teeth or something. I think everything’s fine. I put the phone down, and I didn’t think much of it to begin with. It just kind of escalated very quick.”
Rachel continued: “I wasn’t getting any information. I didn’t know how he was injured, and I just started just grabbing all my stuff, and just thought ‘I’m just gonna head to London, and then hopefully someone will tell me where he is’.”
Freddie initially underwent a five-hour surgery to help put his face back together. There is an appearance by his surgeon Jahrad Haq, who describes Freddie’s injuries as one of the five worst he has come across in 20 years and likes the reconstruction process to a jigsaw with missing pieces.
Freddie reveals how he demanded to see footage of the crash and talks at length about the terror he felt in the moment. “I remember my head got hit, I got dragged out,” he said.
“I went over the back of the car and it pulled my face down on the runway, about 50 metres, underneath the car. My biggest fear was, I didn’t think I had a face. I thought my face had come off. I was frightened to death.”
Recalling seeing her husband for the first time after the accident, Rachel shared: “When I did see him, I walked in the room, and he was just in the bed, and he was bandaged up. Like his eyes, I’ve never seen someone so scared in their eyes. And he just stared at me, and I just think he was looking at me to know how bad he was.
“So to be fair, I totally pulled myself together, and I just didn’t cry. I didn’t, I just said, ‘it’s fine. You’re gonna be okay. I can’t believe how amazing you look’.
“Before we got home, I did, I did call the kids, and I did say to them, ‘you’ve just got to be as strong as you’ve ever been. Your dad does look different at the moment. It’s gonna get better, but I don’t want you to look shocked and horrified, because that’s gonna knock him’.
“And that was hard, but Andy doesn’t know I’ve ever done that. I was so grateful to all those people, I still had a husband, the kids still had their dad.”
Opening up about his four children, Freddie himself recounted: “You want to be there for the kids and you don’t want to miss stuff, fortunately I’ve got four of them.
“I spent all this time with the three-and-a-half year old and he won’t come near me, he’d get frightened of my face, frightened of me. That was heartbreaking.”
The 47-year-old also courageously spoke of the mental health battle that followed the crash, revealing: “I’ve got PTSD and I get anxious. There’s times I find myself crying for no particular reason.”
‘Flintoff’ is available to stream exclusively on Disney+ from Friday, April 25.
Published: 2025-04-24 07:42:42 | Author: [email protected] (Jessica Sansome) | Source: MEN – News
Link: www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Tags: #Freddie #Flintoffs #son #frightened #crash #wife #kids #heartbreaking #promise
