Richard Branson: How I cheated death
Sir Richard cheats death in horror high-speed bike crash
TYCOON Sir Richard Branson told yesterday how he cheated death after he flew over his handlebars in an horrific high-speed bicycle crash.
The Virgin Group founder said he was saved by his crash helmet after he hit a speed bump while racing downhill in the dark.
Sir Richard, 66, was cycling with his grown-up children Holly and Sam when the accident happened on Virgin Gorda – one of the British Virgin Islands.
Yesterday the billionaire businessman told how his “life flashed before his eyes” during the horror smash on Monday during a Caribbean break. He was left soaked in blood after suffering a cracked cheek, torn ligaments, knee and shoulder injuries and severe cuts.
He said: “I was heading down a hill towards Leverick Bay when it suddenly got really dark and I managed to hit a sleeping policeman hump in the road head on.
“The next thing I knew, I was being hurled over the handlebars and my life was literally flashing before my eyes.
“I really thought I was going to die. I went flying towards the concrete road, but fortunately my shoulder and cheek took the brunt of the impact, and I was wearing a helmet that saved my life.
“My bike went flying off the cliff and disappeared.
“We’ve recovered the crumpled bicycle, completely destroyed.”
Sir Richard said his assistant, Helen, was first on the scene as he was “lying prostrate on the road”.
He was flown to the US for X-rays and treatment in Miami. He later joked: “My biggest hardship is having to drink tea out of a straw.”
The daredevil entrepreneur posted images on his website blog which show him lying blood-spattered at the scene wearing a neck brace and sitting up as he recovers from his injuries.
He was in training for September’s Virgin Strive Challenge endurance event from the base of the Matterhorn in the Alps to the summit of Mount Etna in Sicily.
Sir Richard still hopes to take part in the fund-raising event.
It is not the first time the adventurer has escaped death.
He famously capsized and had to be rescued while attempting the fastest Atlantic Ocean yacht crossing in 1985 and experienced a series of brushes with death during several attempts to circumnavigate the globe in a balloon between 1995 and 1998.
Monday’s crash marked the fifth anniversary of the night Sir Richard, his family and guests including actress Kate Winslet fled for their lives after fire engulfed his home on his private island, Necker.
Earlier this week, Sir Richard was in the news when CCTV images released through the Twitter account of the co-owner of Virgin Trains showed Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn walking past empty train seats before he was filmed sitting on the floor complaining about “ram-packed” carriages on a Virgin Trains service.