Richard Hammond

[Jamie!]

Yeah the guy outta Top Gear n Brainiac is critically injured after a car crash whilst filming for Top Gear :o

[Charles]

Yeah the guy outta Top Gear n Brainiac is critically injured after a car crash whilst filming for Top Gear :o

He's the one who looks like a child?
Sad to hear :(

[cocaine]

Thats terrible.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1234566,00.html

&

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/5365676.stm

[brandon]

Poor him :( he's a cool guy.

[cocaine]

He's a legend

[Jamie!]

Mr Hammond was said to have been reaching speeds of up to 280mph as the accident happened.

Oof...

Imagine crashing at that kinda speed?

[cocaine]

Firefighter Dave Ogden, who witnessed the crash, told Sky News that the presenter was able to speak as he was taken out of the wreckage of the car.

Well, thats a bit of relief.



He said: "At 5.45pm this evening we received a report via the fire service of a male person trapped in what was described as an overturned jet car which had been driven on the airfield

He must have been at TG's base then, driving round that big airfield, and it must have overturned.

[-Soph-]

Ow..

Thats a shame to hear, Richard hammon is a legend and a great guy.
Hope he recovers well..

[Charles]

Think he'd be put off Top Gear now?

[cocaine]

Think he'd be put off Top Gear now?

Nope, he loved his job.

[-Soph-]

Think he'd be put off Top Gear now?

Hopefully not, But if hes injured badley then I take it he'll be off it for a little
while, Hope it doesn't put him off, He makes top gear what it is.

[Kardan]

Crashing at 280mph? Ouch.

[::d4nnyt::]

He's the one who looks like a child?
Sad to hear :(

He has grey hair mate.

Sad to hear about his accident. He was much better suited brainiac than that dom geezer. Also did anyone see his tea time show thing?

[ZL2.]

He's a legend
Indeed

[-:Undertaker:-]

o; Hope we haven't got another Steve Irwin thing :(

[-Soph-]

I think hes pretty lucky to be alive, 280mph is quite a speed.


He was much better suited brainiac than that dom geezer. Also did anyone see his tea time show thing?

I agree with you there.

[jord&clar]

i saw about it, quite sad ]:

clarissa: hope hes ok :(

[Ezzie.]

That completly stinks, he's a freaking legend and i was really shocked, all the power to him to overcome this though but 280mph... ouch...

[ZL2.]

'ope he is alright, he rocks!

[Splinky]

Aww he cant go.. Ill cry. He's like a TV legend. I love top gear and brainiac and I so hope he's alright.. its neurological (sp?) which is something to do with the head.. so he could end up being braindead.. Hold in there little guy..

[Lozzoling]

He is officualy the best! My favourite present probably ever.

[Hitman]

Yeah I heard about a bit on the radio, it didn't say if he was dead or not. He isn't which is good. He's cool 8)

[Neversoft]

Yeah, I saw this on 3 of the papers outside a shop. One says he crashed at 280 mph, the other says 300 mph and the other says 315 mph. :s Anyway, hope hes alright and gets better soon.

[brandon]

Anyone know how he is atm?

[WHANGFACE]

He is officualy the best! My favourite present probably ever.
Same :(

Hope he gets better <3

[FrozenWhisper]

He owns! My mate fancies him ;). But he'd better get better, he rocks.
@Ant, just said on Radio that he's getting better but still in bad shape.

[Muniflex]

Rich=ledge

People! Do not try to break the fastest car record....No really, dont!
Gt betta soon Rich!

[FrozenWhisper]

OMG
Just heard, he had a head injury. :(

[::d4nnyt::]

People! Do not try to break the fastest car record....No really, dont!

Lol! .

[dirrty]

I heard yesterday :(
That must of really hurt crashing at that speed :/

I think he'll proberly return to Top gear as life goes on.

[JonJonStress]

Well it's lucky he didn't crash into something!

[-:Undertaker:-]

He could never be able to talk or walk again now, They say he has Brain Injurys so his life may be ruined, Also this could be the end for Top Gear.

[FrozenWhisper]

He could never be able to talk or walk again now, They say he has Brain Injurys so his life may be ruined, Also this could be the end for Top Gear.

NO
NO
NO
NO
NO
NO!
He rocked! He had better get better :(

[Jamie!]

Said on TV this morning that he was complaining of pains in his back and legs when he got out of the car so that means he most likely isn't paralysed because he still had feeling in them. But because he was strapped in so tight, he never cause any major damage to bones, it was his internal organs and brain that would have moved causing damage to them or something

[FrozenWhisper]

Said on TV this morning that he was complaining of pains in his back and legs when he got out of the car so that means he most likely isn't paralysed because he still had feeling in them. But because he was strapped in so tight, he never cause any major damage to bones, it was his internal organs and brain that would have moved causing damage to them or something

He was unconious last time I heard, he had bvetter get better. Btw, is it true he's leaving brainiac?

[Frodo13.]

He is officualy the best! My favourite present probably ever.

Excuse me. But Noel Edmonds is the best.

This is a freak accident. Hope he gets better and not another Steve Irwin

[Neversoft]

He was unconious last time I heard, he had bvetter get better. Btw, is it true he's leaving brainiac?

He already left? :s

[FrozenWhisper]

He already left? :s
He did, damn, I loved him in it ;(

[Neversoft]

He did, damn, I loved him in it ;(

Well now the new series is called Brainiac's Test Tube Baby and it has that man I can't stand presenting it instead of richard Hammond.

[uh huh her]

Well now the new series is called Brainiac's Test Tube Baby and it has that man I can't stand presenting it instead of richard Hammond.

Thats justa spin off of the main one. They do live experiments. & the guys john tickle.

[Flumples]

BBC News just said hes got severe brain damage ;[

[-:Undertaker:-]

Test Tube Baby sucks - Its like Rushed and BORINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

[FrozenWhisper]

Thats justa spin off of the main one. They do live experiments. & the guys john tickle.

No the guy isn't John, he co present's it with someone that looks like he's off **** and Dom In da bunglow (I have a younger brother). Richard suffered a brain injury (just heard ;()

[GoldenMerc]

I think and hope he survives Hes a great presentor and will be missed if he pass's away :(

[JonJonStress]

Steve Irwin dies, now Richard gets seriously hurt. Sucs.

[FrozenWhisper]

I think and hope he survives Hes a great presentor and will be missed if he pass's away :(

Same <3

[WHANGFACE]

I really do hope he gets better..

[brapbrap]

http://www.****************/uploads/f32138425b.jpg (http://www.****************)

Youll Never Walk Alone mate.

[Emzii.]

Oh My ;[ he is my legend <3 Pleez Survive ..

[JonJonStress]

He was the favourite in Top Gear. Followed by Jeremy, then James. Why does no one like James? :P

[brapbrap]

Because he is posh and too safety like, you saw him in thta boat/car race thing lol.

[JonJonStress]

Because he is posh and too safety like, you saw him in thta boat/car race thing lol.

Ye, he always has the funniest cars for them types of evenets.

[Adam$]

I hope he's alright. He was great on Top Gear, and I'm pleased to hear that his state is 'improving'.

[alexxxxx]

BBC News just said hes got severe brain damage ;[

Brain Injury. Not permanant damage (as of yet).

[ScouseOrient]

Jezza said its 50/50 on surving.

But i should think he will survuve we cant have two Cult tv classics die in the same month even year.

RIP STEVE :D.

[alexxxxx]

Jezza said its 50/50 on surving.

But i should think he will survuve we cant have two Cult tv classics die in the same month even year.

RIP STEVE :D.

If he was speaking at the accident, I expect he'll live. If he lives through tonight I recon he'll be fine. First 24 hours = critical.

[FrozenWhisper]

;2244837']If he was speaking at the accident, I expect he'll live. If he lives through tonight I recon he'll be fine. First 24 hours = critical.

I hope you right, he was and is a legend.

[brapbrap]

;2244837']If he was speaking at the accident, I expect he'll live. If he lives through tonight I recon he'll be fine. First 24 hours = critical.


Yeah......

The first 24 Hours have passed and According to Jezza its 50/50.

[x~Rebel~x]

I know, all my friends including myself think hes great and a total legend, I hope he recovers soon lol apparently its brain damage?

[Rockerboi6]

What a legend He is.

[-Soph-]

Because he is posh and too safety like, you saw him in thta boat/car race thing lol.

I remember that, I laughed tons..

Hope he gets through this and gets back onto top gear and brainiac etc. soon, Hes probably my favorite presenter.

[Kardan]

I remember that, I laughed tons..

Hope he gets through this and gets back onto top gear and brainiac etc. soon, Hes probably my favorite presenter.

He left brainiac, vic reeves is replacing him :rolleyes:

[-Soph-]

When did he leave?

He made that show good..

[reindeer.]

Omg Ive been watching the news whenever I can, hope he survives :(

Go Hamster!!!!!!!

[Josh-H]

Come on Hammond, Dont die... PLEASE :(

[jord&clar]

apparently hes got severe brain damage

[alexxxxx]

apparently hes got severe brain damage

FGS it's INJURY not DAMAGE. They are DIFFERENT.

Injury = Fixable

Damage = Not

K?

Sorry I had to get that off m'chest.

[-Soph-]

God, poor guy, Hope he is okay

[alexxxxx]

I do too. It's such a shame that it happens to great guys & gals. =[

My friends cousins died in a car crash last year, it was REALLY sad because of their poor family status. =[

[cocaine]

Damn, I really liked him, he's the spirit of the nation.

Get well soon hampster!

[kasi]

whos he :S

[kasi]

whos he :S

oh soz double post!!!

[cocaine]

whos he :S

You don't know who he is?

Are you having a laugh?

[kasi]

You don't know who he is?

Are you having a laugh?

no i honestly dont know who he is :s

[cocaine]

no i honestly dont know who he is :s

http://www.topgear.com/

like THE best car show ever?!

[-Soph-]

Clicky (http://www.topgear.com/content/news/stories/1112/)

Bit of info..

[Nadgers]

D'awwr. :(

Hope he recovers quickly, he's ace and Top Gear just wont be the same without little Hampster!

[whitehomey]

he died? RIP that man

lovin top gear when i was in the uk

[-Soph-]

he died? RIP that man

lovin top gear when i was in the uk

No he hasn't died

Just critically ill.

[Josh-H]

Hes got significant brain injury but he should recover...

Lets just hope hes improved over last night. Hes passed the 24 hours so lets hope hes improving

[GJay]

Has anyone found out any more info? I Love Richard ! He's my lil hamster!

[Josh-H]

According to top gear site hes out of intensive care but still critical so...

[alexxxxx]

Just critically ill.

He's not even critically ill, that means he could die at almost any moment. He's seriously ill. He's gonna be fine. :)

[cocaine]

Has anyone found out any more info? I Love Richard ! He's my lil hamster!

You love everyone!

gsw hampster!

[Jamie!]

Yeah he has been moved out of Intensive Care into a 'High-Dependcy' unit

[Adam$]

yeah, Hammond's moved into a new unit and doctors are optomistic he'll make a good recovery.

C'mon Hamster.

[Muniflex]

Joke from Jeremy Clarkson made him smile. Yay:D

[Josh-H]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5371556.stm

James May had a conversation :)

Hes gonna be ok :D:D:D:D:D:D:D

[reindeer.]

He took his first steps last night :) Opened his eyes and asked what happened too.

[Guitarist J]

yay. hes okay :]

lmao hamster ;DD

[Jamie!]

By JEREMY CLARKSON
SEPTEMBER 23, 2006

IN the wee small hours of Thursday night, just 30 hours after what is almost certainly the world’s fastest ever car crash, Richard Hammond suddenly sat up in bed, opened his eyes and asked what had happened.

“You’ve been in a car accident,” I said. “Was I driving like a [naughty word]?” he asked, before getting out of bed and walking, shakily, to the lavatory.

His wife, Mindy, couldn’t believe her eyes. None of us could. It really did seem that he’d had a look through death’s door and decided he didn’t like what he saw on the other side.

Later, he looked across at James May and said: “Hello [Naughty word] face.”

Despite all the odds, it seemed we’d got our Hamster back . . .

Two years ago, Richard Hammond, James May and I agreed on a plan of action should one of us be killed while making our show, Top Gear.

We decided that after the announcement of the death was made in the following week’s show, the next word should be “anyway”.

So if the Hamster had ever careered through the Pearly Gates in a flaming 200mph fireball, I would put on a sombre face, say that Richard Hammond had died and then, after a small pause, say: “Anyway, the new Jag . . .”

It was a sort of joke. But then this week, it sort of wasn’t.

The idea to drive a jet car actually came from Hammond. He skedaddled into the office one day and, bubbling with his trademark enthusiasm, said: “Hey, why don’t we go somewhere and drive really fast? I don’t mean supercar fast. I mean REALLY fast.”

We all liked the idea. But what we liked even more was the idea of James May being given the assignment.

James is known to his fans as Captain Slow. He thinks dawdling is reckless and practises the art of what he calls “Christian Motoring”. Mostly, this involves letting people out of side turnings and generally being Edwardian.

Putting him, and that ’70s barnet, in a 370mph jet car was a bit like putting just Jane Austen at the helm of a space shuttle.


Immediately, James discovered a prior engagement and said he couldn’t go. I, meanwhile, decided that I spent most of my thirties upside down in jet fighters and helicopter gunships, vomiting, and that these days I was far too fat.

That left Hammond, who was bouncing around like the donkey in Shrek shouting, “Pick me. Pick me”.

And so we did.

Today, people who have absolutely no idea at all of how television works, (Yes, columnist Neil Lyndon — that’s you, you sanctimonious, rent-a-soundbite little [Naughty word]) are saying that our producers push us to do more and more dangerous stunts in a bid for ratings.

Rubbish. Our producers spend their whole lives filling in health and safety forms and asking “are you sure?”

It’s the presenters who come up with the hare-brained ideas and trans-continental races . . . not the backroom boys or the suits.

The car Hammond was set to drive is called the Vampire. It’s powered by a Rolls- Royce Orpheus jet engine — as used by the Red Arrows — and currently holds the British land speed record of 300.3mph.


Top pals ... Richard with Clarkson and
May on day before smash
I know one bloke who has driven it and he said simply: “It was brilliant. Although I did fill my pants.”

So, the day before his fateful encounter, I shook Hammond’s hand and said “goodbye”.

“I’ll probably be killed,” he joked with a huge, beaming smile. “Anyway . . .”

He knew that he was embarking on a dangerous mission. And this is what no one seems to understand. He was looking forward to it. He likes the buzz.

He also knew that in Top Gear’s 28-year history, no one on the show has ever been hurt. Not even Ray Mears can claim that. Or Anthea Turner or even Janet Ellis.

Right now no one knows for sure what caused the accident. Film footage seems to point the finger of blame at a tyre. And that’s something you can’t prepare for.

The tyres were from a Nascar racer in America, chosen specifically because they have super-stiff side walls. But it does seem that one of them burst.

How fast was Richard going? Well on the run before, he’d reached 315mph. So it’s likely he’d hit that speed again. Richard isn’t the sort of man who goes backwards. If he thought he’d done 315, he’d be trying to do 317. Or 320. Or five million if he’d thought there was half a chance.

People with beards and dirty fingernails are now saying he should never have been in that car, doing that kind of speed. They make out it’s all terribly complicated and that you need years of practice.

Rubbish. From what I understand, you sit there, you push a lever to light the afterburner and you then push another to shut off the fuel supply — it runs on heating oil — and deploy the parachutes. A hamster could do it. In fact, a hamster did.


Of course, behind the scenes, there was a small army of people making sure all went well. The Vampire team had even brought along a device to measure wind speed. Nothing that could be left to chance had been left to chance. But chance itself was still sitting there, waiting to bite. As the car began its series of sickening rolls, at a speed that boggles the mind, Richard’s head was taking a ferocious pounding as his helmet smashed into the protective steel cage.

That was bad, but inside his body things were worse. He will have been subjected to maybe 100g. This means his brain will have weighed 71 stone. And it was rolling around inside his head at 300 revs per minute.

He landed upside-down, with his helmet, full of soil, buried in the earth. Amazingly, he was alive. And more than that, after a few minutes of unconsciousness, he was lucid.

“I want to do a piece to camera”, he told the crew. He even fought the ambulancemen, who said he couldn’t. No surprises there. Richard likes fighting. He does it a lot.

When I first heard of the crash, I was doing a rather miserable 175mph in an Aston Martin at our test track in Surrey. Everyone was quite upbeat. He didn’t appear to be badly hurt. So I carried on driving round corners a little too quickly while shouting. I even went out for dinner with friends that night.

But later it became apparent that Richard was much more seriously injured than we’d thought. Doctors described his condition as critical.

At the hospital, his wife Mindy was being a star. She’s one of those women who takes things in her stride but this was something else. She was laughing. She was joking.

She’d told daughters Willow and Izzy that Daddy had crashed another car and messed up his clothes. So she was taking him some clean ones. Richard had a bad night. At four he was giving very serious cause for concern but as the sun rose, he’d rallied a bit.

He didn’t look very “rallied” to me. In fact, he looked like a Klingon, with a massively swollen eye and a huge lump on his forehead. The only good news, so far as I could see, was that his teeth were still as shiny and bright as ever.

It’s genuinely hard to know how Mindy could be so upbeat when her husband was so badly dented. They’d just exchanged contracts on a new house. They were about to take out a joint mortgage. And yet, she was still cheerful. James May and I weren’t. May even admits to having been “a bit unmanly” at one point.

There’s one thing though. All we ever hear about the NHS is that it’s rubbish. But anyone who ever experiences the emergency care it provides always notices just how un-rubbish it is in reality.

Leeds General Infirmary is a no star hospital. According to the bureaucrats, it’s terrible. But trust me on this. From where Richard Hammond was lying, it was about as terrible as Angelina Jolie’s left breast.

They were coping brilliantly with a forest of flowers being sent by well wishers. “They’re lovely,” said Mindy, and then, after a pause . . . “Do you think anyone will send cash donations?” Outside, in the real world, one internet site had raised &#163;4,000 for the air ambulance that had saved Richard’s life. Sky News was deluged with thousands of goodwill messages. The Sun received messages from all over the world.

And there was some hope. While James was leaning over, whispering to our bashed-up friend, Mindy started to stroke his hair and I noticed the hamster’s heart rate had shot up from 60 to 75 beats per minute.


“Christ, James. He thinks you’re doing the stroking,” I yelled.

Quickly, the heart beat settled down again. Then came the moment when I said: “The reason you’re here mate is because you’re a crap driver.”

And he smiled.

I knew then that he was going to pull through. And God it was a relief.

You can never tell after a brain injury what long-term implications there might be. He might have no sense of taste, or double vision. His teeth may go brown. Or he may be absolutely fine.

The only thing I knew was this: he was going to live.

And the next day after he said, “Hello [Naughty word]” to James May, it looked like he might just win back everything else as well.

You’d think that the joyous news would silence the vultures circling the crash site since the accident, rejoicing in the fact that Top Gear had finally been taught its lesson that speed kills.

Somehow I doubt it though. The campaign to have us taken off the air — sparked curiously, by the BBC’s own news website — will now be ramped up, fuelled by the environmentalists and spearheaded by muddle-headed road safety campaigners.

[Josh-H]

I dont know where you pasted that from ^^

But thank you. I read it all from top to bottom.

Seems he will live. Thank God.

[Jamie!]

Its out of his column in the sun

[Ezzie.]

woooooooot ah that's great news! him standing up from bed then going to the loo after that crash though is simply unbelievable!

[GoldenMerc]

Amazing.Hope he full recovers +rep :)

[Pyroka]

Hmm he'll recover. He's making a speedy recovery already, i mean look at his condition! He can walk now and talk now, i dont see how anything can go wrong.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Brain Injurys can kill you at any time, One minute you can be joking and walking and next minute your Dead.

[Josh-H]

Brain Injurys can kill you at any time, One minute you can be joking and walking and next minute your Dead.

Such a mood lightner :rolleyes:

I give my best wishes for him, but just remember people, hes not out of the fire yet.

[CokeZero]

i wonder what will happen to the top gear seris coming up i wonder?

[Adam$]

I'm really glad to hear how well he's improving. He's been moved out of the high-dependancy unit now to another ward.

I wish him all the best.

[Bear-Max]

Really glad he survived. I've always admired him a really great person and enjoyed pretty much everything he's done on TV.

Plus, it would be terrible for his two young daughters to lose their father and to never have him around as they grow up.

[Jamie!]

I'm really glad to hear how well he's improving. He's been moved out of the high-dependancy unit now to another ward.

I wish him all the best.

Looks like he his making a fast recovery ;]]

[cocaine]

Our hampster is back :]

[-Soph-]

Oo yay, Hope hes back up presenting soon.

[Eamonn]

Least hes out of HDU :] I je deteste HDU :[ and hopefully he will continue to progress :D

[JabbaHosts]

already a thread.

bye.

[-Soph-]

already a thread.

bye.


I can't see one.

[Jamie!]

already a thread.

bye.

It would have been locked by now if there was already another thread

So...bye :]

On-Topic: Quite remarkable that he crashed at 300+mph and now he is up walking a couple of days later

[Phanoka]

im well pleased hes okay now, and i hope they dont close top gear coz even if he had of died, he wouldnt of wanted that.
Top gear is just about the only programme i like on TV along with saturday night takeaway, im a celebrity get me out of here, parkinson and match of the day :)

[foxyfox00]

I was shocked when I 1st heard.
I love to watch top-gear when its on.
At least he's getting better. To many people are dying atm

[GJay]

This is the latest news: (About 7 hours ago)

BRITISH motoring show presenter Richard Hammond has got out of bed and walked after suffering brain injuries in a high-speed crash, co-host of Top Gear Jeremy Clarkson said today.

"In the wee small hours of Thursday night, just 30 hours after what is almost certainly the world's fastest-ever car crash, Richard Hammond suddenly sat up in bed opened his eyes and asked what had happened," wrote Clarkson in his column for The Sun newspaper.

"'You've been in a car accident'," I said. "'Was I driving badly?' he asked, before getting out of bed and walking shakily to the lavatory."

A Leeds General Infirmary hospital spokeswoman said Hammond continued to "make good progress".

Hammond's wife Mindy also provided an upbeat assessment of her husband's medical condition.

"He's spoken and smiled. It's early days and what has happened hasn't really sunk in for him," she told The Daily Mirror newspaper.

Hammond, 36, was seriously injured on Wednesday when he crashed a jet-powered dragster as he accelerated towards 300 miles per hour (483kph) in a feature being filmed for the BBC show.

He suffered what his doctors have called a significant brain injury as a result of the accident at an RAF airfield near York.

Although doctors remain concerned about his condition they have said they are "reasonably optimistic that he will make a good recovery".

The accident is being jointly investigated by police and the Health and Safety Executive.

Hammond had been filming at the Elvington airfield in what media reports said was an attempt to break the British land speed record of 300.3 miles per hour (483.18kph) when the accident happened.

A spokesman for the car's sponsor, auto accessory maker Thule, has said that although timers were in place to record Hammond's speed, it would not have qualified as an official record attempt.

[cocaine]

A spokesman for the car's sponsor, auto accessory maker Thule, has said that although timers were in place to record Hammond's speed, it would not have qualified as an official record attempt.

Thats sick how they are concentrating on the record when someone's in hospital!