Branson bloodied after bike hits pothole
SIR RICHARD BRANSON, the British billionaire and business magnate, has suffered bloody injuries to his hip and elbow after crashing into a pothole while cycling on a Caribbean island.
Photographs of the incident on Virgin Gorda show Sir Richard, 73, with a deep wound on his left elbow while standing next to a friend who has cuts on his knuckles and face.
Sir Richard shared details of the accident on his Instagram page on Sunday evening, disclosing that he suffered a hematoma on his hip. He wrote: “Took quite a big tumble while cycling in Virgin Gorda a little while ago.
“I hit a pothole and crashed hard, resulting in another hematoma on my hip and a nasty cut elbow, but amazingly nothing broken.
“We were cycling with Alex Wilson, who fell after me, but thankfully he was OK as well.
“I’m counting myself very lucky, and thankful for keeping myself active and healthy. After all, the brave may not live forever but the cautious do not live at all.”
Sir Richard has had several crashes over the years while cycling. In 2021 he was involved in a “colossal” accident during a fundraising event in the British Virgin Islands.
The entrepreneur feared he had broken his back or paralysed himself after his brakes failed.
At the time, Sir Richard said there was no doubt that wearing helmets had saved his and fellow rider Felix Stellmaszek’s lives when they collided. In 2016 he came off his bicycle at high speed when he hit a bump in the dark, suffering a cracked cheek, torn ligaments and cuts and bruising to his body.
He said: “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 head first 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.”