I’m alive! But TV’s Richard Hammond says sorry to wife after car crash
FORMER Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond yesterday apologised to his wife and two daughters after he was seconds from being “incinerated” in a horror car crash in the Alps.
The 47-year-old TV host, who just weeks ago vowed never to take on a death-defying stunt again for the sake of his “beautiful” family, was once again back in hospital.
The latest smash on Saturday in a £1million Rimac Concept One car – one of only eight ever made – came after he famously avoided being killed in another high-speed crash in 2006.
Yesterday, an apologetic Hammond was recovering in hospital in Switzerland with a shattered knee.
The star had been filming the TV show The Grand Tour alongside copresenters Jeremy Clarkson and James May, when his 220mph electric supercar careered 100ft off a mountain road before landing on its roof.
He just managed to climb out of the vehicle before it burst into flames on Saturday. In a statement, show bosses said Hammond had been involved in a “serious crash” after completing the Hemberg Hill Climb in St Gallen.
Thanked
From his hospital bed yesterday the star, 47, apologised to wife Mindy, 46, and daughters Isabella, 16, and Willow, 13, during a video message entitled “I’m not dead”.
He said: “Hello, yes, it’s true, I’ve binned it [crashed], again. The net result is I’m here in hospital in Switzerland.”
The star then showed X-rays of his leg saying medics were hopefully going to give him a “Swiss Army Knee”.
He also thanked medical staff for getting him by air ambulance to hospital, and May for smuggling a bottle of gin into the medical centre for him.
He added: “Most importantly, sorry to my wife Mindy and my daughters Izzy and Willow for being such a colossal...” At that point, May held the book, The Idiot Brain, to the camera.
After his previous near death accident, Hammond promised his wife he would drive carefully in future. In a recent interview, he said: “I’ve a beautiful wife and two beautiful daughters. I’m not going to risk leaving them.”
After the latest crash, Grand Tour producer Andy Wilman said Hammond was seconds from being “incinerated”. He added: “Jeremy and James raced to the scene as soon as it happened. When they saw the wreckage on fire they thought Richard was dead. It was really bad. They were staggered he had got out of it alive, because there was just nothing left.”
Clarkson wrote on Twitter: “It was the biggest crash I’ve ever seen and the most frightening but incredibly, and thankfully, Richard seems to be mostly OK.” Doctors were due to operate on him last night. A Grand Tour spokesman said: “Richard Hammond was involved in a serious crash but fortunately suffered no serious injury.
“Richard was conscious and talking, and climbed out of the car himself before the vehicle burst into flames.
“He was flown by Air Ambulance to hospital in St Gallen. He has a knee fracture. Nobody else was in the car or involved in the accident. The cause is unknown and is being investigated.” The crash will lead to further questions about Hammond’s driving.
In 2006 he suffered head injuries following a 288mph crash as he filmed for BBC’s Top Gear.
He was in a coma for two weeks but made a full recovery.
In March, he suffered injuries after falling off a motorbike while filming The Grand Tour in Mozambique.