Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond has revealed he was “close to death” after he crashed in a jet-powered car.
The 36-year-old had been driving a 300 mph jet-powered dragster when it veered off course at Elvington airfield, near York, in September.
Hammond was then taken to hospital for a treatment at Leeds General Infirmary.
The father-of-two has described in the Daily Mirror newspaper how he was “utterly terrified” and had a “50/50″ chance of surviving the accident.
He said: “Doctors use a points system. Fifteen is normal, three is a flatline. I was a three. I was that close to being dead.”
“It was 50/50 what was going to happen. I may have been dead, I may not have woken up.”
The accident happened as Hammond was attempting a land speed record as he was being filmed.
Hammond told the newspaper he still did not know “what went wrong”.
At one point, the surgeons had considered drilling a “bore hole” into his head to drain the blood from his brain to relieve the swelling, but the operation was not deemed necessary.
His severe injury reduced him to a “child-like state” in which he became obsessed with Lego, which he said helped him recover.
He suffered short-term memory loss, became disorientated and also endured “excruciating” pain, for which he was prescribed morphine.
Hammond, nicknamed “Hamster”, went on to describe his wife Mindy, also 36, as “a rock” who had kept calm throughout his ordeal.
However, he spoke of his heartache at witnessing his eldest daughter Izzy, six, cry as she and her sister Willow, three, left the hospital after visiting him.
The BBC has confirmed that Hammond had signed a two-year contract before his accident.
A spokeswoman said: “The contract pre-dates the accident.”
She said the corporation could not confirm the return of Top Gear or any other future projects until it had received an update on Hammond’s progress.
Read Hammond’s exclusive interview here
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walking leaf says:
Jeremy Clarkson has said his Top Gear co-star Richard Hammond is “completely fixed” after his high speed crash while filming for the show last month.
“He’s completely fixed after his minor crash… the only thing that’s really breaking his heart is he has chipped one of his whitened teeth,” he said.
Expect Jeremy to make a joke on Hammond’s white teeth! But he warned his fellow Top Gear presenter to take it easy: “He’s got to rest because although there’s nothing actually wrong with him, it’s better he just has some time off, writes his book, sells his story.”
The Hamster did sell his story, following this week’s Daily Mirror coverage. Anyway, glad to hear Richard Hammond is recovering well.
Latest on Hammond:
Oct 23, 2006, 9:34 amhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6088264.stm