Freddie Flintoff details extent of injuries as he remembers moment of crash: 'Part of me thinks I should've died’

But there is one moment in Flintoff's life that is explored in great depth in the documentary: the 2022 crash he was involved in while filming a stunt for Top Gear.

Viewers were first given a closer look at Flintoff's injuries in Field of Dreams last year, but now he has explained in detail about how they came to be as he discussed the crash.

"I remember everything about it," he said in the documentary. "In some ways, it'd be easier if I'd gone unconscious and then been unconscious for a week or two."

Recalling the crash, Flintoff continued: "It was a three wheeler. There's a reinforced windscreen and a bar, which was about half of my back, so I'm exposed. [I was] probably doing about a 40 or 45. They were showing me how to get the car going sideways, and the wheel came up at the front.

"It's a funny thing rolling a car, because there's a point of no return and everything slows down... If you play cricket, with the bat you get point-four seconds to make your mind where the ball is going and what shot you're going to play. Are you going to move your feet?

"And as it started going over, I looked to the ground and I'd either get hit on the side and I break my neck. And the best chance is [to] go face down."

Flintoff remembered getting "dragged out" as he "went over the back of the car". He explained he was "pulled face down on the runway about 50 metres underneath the car".

The presenter then looked down and saw blood coming down his face, thinking that his face had "come off".

Flintoff was then air-lifted to St George's Hospital, where Dr Jahrad Haq performed a five to six-hour surgery.

Speaking in the documentary, Haq explained that Flintoff arrived with "very complex" injuries.

"He had a mixture of heart tissue and soft tissue injuries, broken teeth, lost teeth, elements of the upper jaw bone that were also fractured and displaced," he said.

"His soft tissue injuries were very complex... And he'd lost a really significant portion of his upper lip, the skin and some of the underlying muscle, and also his lower lip."

As Flintoff reflected further on the crash, he candidly opened up about the emotional turmoil he had suffered, explaining that a part of him thinks he "should have been killed".

"A part of me thinks I wish I died," he said. "I didn't want to kill myself. I don't want to mistake the two things, but I wasn't wishing, but thinking, this would have been so much easier."

Since those thoughts, Flintoff said that he now tries to have a more positive attitude. As he explained: "You know what? The sun will come up tomorrow and then my kids will still give me a hug, and I'm probably in a better place now."

In 2023, Flintoff reached a reported £9 million compensation settlement with BBC Studios – the broadcaster's commercial division – which was not paid using licence fee money (via BBC News).

"BBC Studios has reached an agreement with Freddie that we believe supports his continued rehabilitation, return to work and future plans," the company said at the time. "We have sincerely apologised to Freddie and will continue to support him with his recovery."

Flintoff is available to stream on Disney+ from Friday 25th April 2025. Sign up to Disney+ from £4.99 a month or £89.90 for a year.

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