Freddie Flintoff broke his rib and suffered facial injuries in ‘nasty’ crash
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Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff broke a rib and suffered facial injuries in a ‘nasty’ accident when his son said the Top Gear host is ‘lucky to be alive’ after he was flown to hospital.
A relative of Freddie Flintoff said today that the star suffered a cut face and a broken rib in the high-speed crash.
They said the wife of The Ashes hero, Rachael, had left the family home in Altrincham and rushed to hospital yesterday when she heard about the accident.
They said: ‘I know his face is badly cut and a broken rib. It’s a concern, but he’s fine.
Corey Flintoff, 16, said his family was “shocked” after the 45-year-old England cricket legend was taken to hospital.
He was behind the wheel filming an episode for the BBC series at Dunsfold Park airfield in Surrey when the accident occurred.
Temperatures had plunged to 0C at the test track where he was checking out a car at the time.
Corey told MailOnline: ‘It’s okay. I’m not quite sure what happened, but he’s lucky to be alive.
‘It was quite a nasty accident. It’s shocking. We’re all shocked, but we just hope he’s okay.”
Top Gear presenter Freddie Flintoff was airlifted to hospital after a horrific car accident during filming (file photo)
The BBC confirmed that Flintoff was injured in the crash and was taken to hospital for further treatment (file photo)
The BBC confirmed that the father-of-four was injured in the accident and has been taken to hospital for further treatment. sources said Sun that Flintoff’s injuries are “not life-threatening.”
Flintoff’s breakthrough comes three years after the former cricketer narrowly avoided death after a 125mph crash.
A BBC spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘Freddie was injured in an accident at the Top Gear test track, and crew medics attended the scene immediately. He has been taken to hospital for further treatment and we will confirm further details in due course.”
Sources told The Sun: ‘All the usual health and safety measures were also taken for filming. Freddie was taken to the hospital by air ambulance soon after.
“Filming has been postponed for now and the only thing everyone cares about is Freddie getting well.”
Flintoff was behind the wheel filming when the incident occurred, and medics at the scene near Cranleigh rushed to his aid.
Chris Harris, who hosts the show alongside Flintoff and Paddy McGuiness, was also on the Top Gear test track.
In 2019, Flintoff was heard fearfully screaming, “I can’t stop,” as he hurtled headfirst down a track just inches off the ground on a three-wheeled moped. He had been racing with his co-hosts when he realized he was running out of track and was about to cross the finish line, seeing him spin in a cloud of dust.
Flintoff walked away from the ‘near fatal’ crash unharmed, insisting he was ‘absolutely fine’.
He said at the time: “I do everything I can to make sure I do well in Top Gear drag racing, but this time I went a little too far.” It will look more ridiculous than dangerous when you see it on TV.
Flintoff was behind the wheel filming when the incident occurred, and saw medics at the scene near Cranleigh come to his aid. His co-star Chris Harris, who hosts the show alongside Flintoff and Paddy McGuiness, was also on the Top Gear test track.
In 2019, Flintoff was heard fearfully screaming, “I can’t stop,” as he hurtled headfirst down a track just inches off the ground on a three-wheeled moped.
Flintoff was injured as cameras rolled to capture his take on the car for the show’s review segment (file photo)
Flintoff, who was named England cricket captain twice, first in 2006 and 2007, retired from playing in 2010, before briefly returning to play for Lancashire four years later.
Following his illustrious sports career, he became a familiar face on television, joining various reality shows and panels and appearing as the face of supermarket brand Morrisons.
In 2010 he became captain of Sky’s A League Of Their Own team, hosted by James Corden before being crowned king of the jungle in the first series of the Australian version of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! ! in 2015.
After appearing in the BBC drama Love, Lies and Records in 2017, he made his musical theater debut in Kay Mellor’s Fat Friends The Musical and presented All Star Musicals for ITV in December of the same year.
He was announced in October 2018, ahead of the show’s 27th season, as the new host of Top Gear alongside Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris.
McGuinness also cheated death after losing control of a red Lamborghini in the Yorkshire Dales in 2020.
It comes after Richard Hammond was left in a coma following a serious accident on set in September 2006.
The former Top Gear host crashed a jet-powered Vampire dragster vehicle while traveling at 288mph and spent five weeks in hospital recovering from his injuries.
Top Gear crashes through the years
Richard Hammond crashes a Vampire Dragster – 2006
Richard was left fighting for his life after crashing the jet car while going 288mph while testing the vehicle at the former RAF Elvington airbase near York. Hammond was completing a seventh and final run in the car when the right front tire blew and the dragster skidded off the track, flipping over and Hammond was left with a traumatic head injury and was in a coma for two weeks. In the year after the accident, the TV host returned to the show and talked about the accident on the Jonathan Ross show, but he couldn’t remember anything due to his injuries.
Shocking: Richard was left fighting for his life after crashing the Vampire Dragster while going 288mph while testing the vehicle at the former RAF Elvington airbase.
Freddie Flintoff crashes a jet trike – 2019
In September, Freddie revealed that he suffered a nasty exhaust after a high-speed crash on a jet trike during filming. The 41-year-old cricket star insisted he was “absolutely fine” after his jet trike went off the road during a race at Elvington airfield near York. Freddie reportedly ran his high-speed trike off the road while filming the high-speed race. Crew members rushed to Freddie, who was wearing a full biker outfit and helmet for the scenes, but he came out with barely a scratch.
Close call: In September of last year, Freddie revealed that he suffered a nasty exhaust after a high-speed crash on a jet trike during filming.
Paddy McGuinness’s rear axle comes off his Pontiac Firebird – 2020
In the latest series of Top Gear, Paddy embarked on the ‘original’ American Road Trip with Freddie and Chris Harris. He arrived at his departure point from Peru with a Pontiac Firebird that had no roof, among various other problems. When the trio decided to test their cars on a straight 1/4 mile stretch of road, Paddy’s car only got a few yards before the rear end of the axle broke completely and he was forced to abandon the car. .
In the latest series of Top Gear, Paddy was forced to abandon his Pontiac Firebird after the rear end of the axle completely fell apart (pictured)
Jeremy Clarkson flips his Reliant Robin – 2010
In a now famous segment on Top Gear, former host Jeremy flipped a Reliant Robin multiple times. The automotive journalist flipped it over to demonstrate that the three-wheeled car could easily roll over. In his driving column for the Sunday Times, Jeremy revealed that he had actually asked the crew to play with the car “so that the poor thing would roll over every time you turned the wheel”.
Flipping heck: In a now-famous segment of Top Gear, former host Jeremy Clarkson flipped a Reliant Robin multiple times (pictured)