Freddie Flintoff is 'lucky to be alive' after 'nasty' car crash while filming Top Gear
14 December 2022, 13:43 | Updated: 13 September 2023, 16:26
Top gear presenter and former England cricketer Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff could have easily died after getting into a “nasty crash” during filming, his son says.
Mr Flintoff was filming an episode for the BBC series yesterday morning at a test track in Dunsfold Park Aerodrome, Surrey, when he was injured and airlifted to hospital.
It is understood that the father-of-four was reviewing a car for the show and that temperatures had dropped to 0C on the track at the time.
His son, Corey Flintoff, 16, said the family have been left shaken by the incident. He told MailOnline: “I’m not too sure what happened but he is lucky to be alive. It was a pretty nasty crash. It is shocking. We are all shocked but just hope he's going to be OK.'
The BBC said crew medics rushed to the scene as soon as the 45-year-old cricket legend crashed and said it would “confirm more details in due course”. Sources told the Sun that Mr Flintoff’s injuries are “not life-threatening”.
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Filming of the Top Gear episode is understood to have been postponed for the time being following the crash.
A source previously told the Sun: "He was driving on the track as normal. He wasn't going at high speeds - it was just an accident that could happen to anyone.
"All the usual health and safety measures were in place for filming too. Freddie was taken to hospital by air ambulance shortly afterwards."
Mr Flintoff has been a presenter on Top Gear since 2019, and it is not his first crash on the show.
In the year he joined, he miraculously escaped serious injury after he crashed a three-wheeled car going 124mph.
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He could be heard screaming "I can't stop" as he lost control. Amazingly, he walked away unharmed, telling co-workers that he was "absolutely fine".
Mr Flintoff, who played 79 Test matches for England, said after the first crash: "I go to great lengths to make sure I do well in Top Gear drag races but, on this occasion, I went a few lengths too far. It will look more ridiculous than dangerous when you see it on TV."
In 2006 former Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond ended up in a coma and nearly lost his life after crashing a jet-powered car travelling at nearly 290mph.
