Former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has opened up for the first time about the terrifying car crash he experienced while filming Top Gear in 2022. In a new Disney+ documentary titled Freddie, Andrew Flintoff revealed that for a moment, he thought he was dead.
Notably, Flintoff was driving a powerful three-wheeled Morgan Super 3, and it was running at the speed of 130 mph when it flipped during filming for the BBC motoring program. He wasn’t wearing a helmet at the time, and the accident left him with serious injuries to his face and ribs.
His surgeon, Jahrad Haq, revealed that Flintoff’s injuries were among the worst he had seen in two decades, comparing the surgery to solving a jigsaw puzzle with missing pieces. Despite the trauma, Flintoff said that he remembers every detail of the crash.
Andrew Flintoff said in the Disney+ documentary released on Friday, “I thought I was dead, because I was conscious, but I couldn't see anything. I was thinking, is that it? Is that it? You know what I mean? Just black for the rest of my days? My hat came over my eyes, so I pulled my hat up, and I thought, No, I'm not [dead]; I'm on the Top Gear track; this is not heaven.”
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After the crash, Flintoff looked down and saw blood, which immediately triggered his "biggest fear" that his face might be severely damaged or even gone.
He recalled, “I remember my head got hit, and I got dragged out. I went over the back of the car, and it pulled my face down on the runway, about 50 meters, underneath the car. I thought my face had come off. I was frightened to death.”
Andrew Flintoff reveals how he dealt with complex injuries
The Ashes winner has suffered very complex injuries in the crash, including broken and lost teeth and fractures to his upper jaw and lip. He also lost a significant portion of his upper lip and part of his lower lip. Reflecting on his recovery, Flintoff admitted that he didn’t think he had the strength to overcome such a challenging torment, but cricket helped him to pass that phase.
Flintoff admitted that a part of him, in those difficult moments, wished he had not survived the crash. He made it clear he never wanted to end his life but felt that going through the pain seemed harder than not being alive at all. With time, his perspective changed.
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Cricket has given me the coping mechanisms: Andrew Flintoff
The Englishman now focuses on the small joys, like the sun rising each day and the love from his children, saying he’s in a better place emotionally. He credits cricket, along with the support of loved ones, as a key part of his strength that taught him how to cope with tough times.
Flintoff signed off by saying, “I think sport has been the one thing that's given me the coping mechanisms to get through pretty much anything, because some of the lows in cricket were so low, and you have to come back. It was resilience; it was passion, surrounded by people you love and people you trust. It was probably one of the most important things in my life after my family and my friends.”
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