TV star Freddie Flintoff’s long-time friend and former England cricket team-mate Steve Harmison has revealed he was left in floods of tears after seeing the devastating injuries Freddie suffered in his horror Top Gear crash.
A new Disney+ documentary called Flintoff, released last night, has exposed the full extent of the ex-cricketer’s trauma following the 2022 smash at Dunsfold Park, Surrey — where the three-wheeled Morgan Super 3 he was driving flipped and dragged him along the track. Flintoff sustained severe facial injuries in the accident, which required multiple surgeries.
Steve Harmison, who first met Freddie in 1996 and retired alongside him in 2009, said the photos he received before surgery were so harrowing that he “couldn’t stop crying”.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Harmison recalled: “When he sent them to me, I didn’t stop crying for a long, long time. He’s lucky to be still with us. He’s lucky he’s been patched up and they’ve done a wonderful job. His confidence is back and it’s great to see him back in cricket.”
He added: “It was a difficult time for him and for Rachael [Freddie’s wife] and the kids. He was always image conscious.” In the documentary, Freddie himself bravely opens up about the psychological toll of the crash — admitting that, in his darkest moments, part of him wished he hadn’t survived.
“After the accident, I didn’t think I had it in me to get through,” he said. “This sounds awful: part of me wishes I had been killed, part of me thinks, ‘I wish I had died’. I didn’t want to kill myself, don’t mistake the two things, but I was thinking, ‘this would have been so much easier’.”
He went on to reveal the fear he felt in the moments after impact, adding: “My biggest fear was I didn’t think I had a face. I thought my face had come off.”
Surgeon Jahrad Haq, who treated Flintoff, previously described the injuries as among the most complex he had ever seen. Freddie suffered broken and lost teeth, fractured jaw bones, and lost significant portions of his upper and lower lips, including underlying muscle.
The crash sent shockwaves through the Top Gear production team and viewers alike. The show has since been “rested” by the BBC, who later reached a multi-million pound settlement with Flintoff.
Despite the trauma, Freddie has returned to public life — initially behind the scenes with the England Lions cricket squad but now he is back in the spotlight through his documentary.
Harmison, who features in the film, said hearing Freddie express his dark thoughts was “heartbreaking”, but he’s proud of how far his friend has come since.
Freddie’s wife has admitted she had to ‘pull herself together’ after seeing him post-crash as she was so horrified by the extent of his injuries, but did not want the sportsman to be frightened by her reaction. She added: “I just didn’t cry. I didn’t, I just said, ‘it’s fine. You’re gonna be okay. I can’t believe how amazing you look’.”
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