Former England cricket star Freddie Flintoff has reflected on the lasting damage he suffered from his car crash on the set of Top Gear, admitting that he still remembers everything that happened.
The 47-year-old experienced a near-fatal car crash while filming the motoring series in December 2022, which left him with severe injuries and disfigurement.
“You know, I suffer from PTSD. I have flashbacks and nightmares, but I've probably got more of an acceptance of them now,” he told Piers Morgan in a new interview about the accident.
Flintoff added that he was conscious throughout the crash and still remembers everything about it.
“It was in a car where I was exposed from pretty much ear up and no helmet on,” Flintoff said. “And as it went over, it was like, ‘I got a decision I need to make here.’”
Remarkably, Flintoff says his instincts from playing years of cricket might have stopped him from suffering further injuries.
“I thought, ‘I’m right handed’. So I just gripped out of my right and [tried] 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,” he said.
“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?’”
Flintoff continued by saying that he’s “still a work in progress” but that the crash “changed things a hell of a lot” for him.
“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.”
Flintoff also said that he has only just started driving again in the last four months, but was so nervous after the accident that he couldn’t even drive a golf buggy.
“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.”
The cricketer, who has taken up coaching in the sport, also thanked his family and wife Rachael for their “incredible” support during his recovery period.
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