Richard Hammond revealed that he suffered ‘survivor’s guilt’ after he nearly died in a 320mph crash during the show because he had ‘begged’ BBC producers to plan a challenge for him to go ‘f***ing fast’.
The 54-year-old former Top Gear presenter almost died filming a stunt in a Vampire jet car at York’s Elvington airfield in 2006.
One of the dragsters tyres blew, causing it to spin out of control and crash, flipping it upside down and leaving Richard with serious head injuries that put him in a coma for two weeks.
He said: ‘I had terrible survivors’ guilt, not because other people had died around me and I’d survived, which is the sort of commonly held view of it.’
The 54-year-old former Top Gear presenter almost died filming a stunt in a Vampire jet car at York’s Elvington airfield in 2006
![Richard revealed that he suffered with 'survivor's guilt' after the horror crash](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/03/20/02/82664291-13216659-image-m-21_1710900075358.jpg)
Richard revealed that he suffered with ‘survivor’s guilt’ after the horror crash
Instead he said that he questioned whether the accident was his fault.
‘I mean it was me that ran into the office, (Top Gear Executive Producer, Andy) Wilman’s office at the BBC. I don’t know why the idea came to me, I just ran in and said “Wilman, Wilman, I want to go real f***ing fast, really fast like proper fast”.
‘That’s where the idea came from. Next thing you know I got a phone call from him saying “Right Rich, we’ve sorted this jet-powered dragster for you to have a go”.
He added: ‘Was it my fault, I have responsibilities, two beautiful daughters, Izzy and Willow, they’re everything, and had I risked them being without a father by my rash actions?
‘So I had terrible guilt until they could look at what telemetry there was on the machine and they could assure me “No Richie, your reactions were good, you did everything, there was nothing you could do beyond that point, the tyre had gone, it was an accident”.’
![One of the dragsters tyres blew, causing it to spin out of control and crash, flipping it upside down](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/03/20/02/82665331-13216659-image-a-22_1710900139328.jpg)
One of the dragsters tyres blew, causing it to spin out of control and crash, flipping it upside down
![The accident left Richard with serious head injuries that put him in a coma for two weeks](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/03/20/02/82665329-13216659-image-a-23_1710900142514.jpg)
The accident left Richard with serious head injuries that put him in a coma for two weeks
Describing what was going through his mind during the nearly fatal accident he said: ‘as it went over, (I thought) ‘well there isn’t a roof, the wheels aren’t on the ground, the parachute hasn’t stopped it – there is nothing I can do now.
‘I felt an immense sense of calm.
‘It was an acceptance, the next thing that happens is I die – what other outcome could there possibly be, there’s no roof on this car.’
He added: ‘It wasn’t frightening. I wasn’t wildly unhappy. I was very calm and ‘that’s what happens now’.’
He said that as well as not fearing death during his brush with it in 2006, the experience left him without fear of eventually dying one day.
He said: ‘We all know fight or flight, the sort of in-built human responses. There is a third one according to someone I’ve chatted to, which is sort of freeze.
‘And it’s the point at which you realise there’s nothing you can do.’
![Richard pictured being transferred by Yorkshire Air Ambulance after the nearly fatal crash](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/03/20/02/82665361-13216659-image-m-25_1710900164582.jpg)
Richard pictured being transferred by Yorkshire Air Ambulance after the nearly fatal crash
![Richard with his wife and two daughters. From left to right: Izzy, Richard, Mindy and Willow](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/03/20/02/82665291-13216659-image-m-27_1710900200134.jpg)
Richard with his wife and two daughters. From left to right: Izzy, Richard, Mindy and Willow
However Richard survived the crash and even managed to get himself out of the wreckage which he has ‘no memory of’.
On Spencer Matthews Big Fish podcast he said: ‘Apparently I was standing, I think I’d got myself out the car because I didn’t break anything – because I’m small I just bounce around.’
Richard believes he is still suffering the after effects of his brain injuries caused by the extreme deceleration in speed that made his brain ‘slosh’ forward resulting in a ‘frontal lobe bleed’.
Amazingly, he wasn’t physically injured but due to his brain injuries he suffered with memory loss, depression and difficulties with emotional experiences.
In an interview last year he said his injuries ‘could mean there is an increased risk’ of a condition linked to memory loss.
He said: ‘I have to consciously write memories down and work hard to recall them sometimes. It might be because I’m 53, it might be because I’m working a lot and I’m tired, it might be the onset of something else.’
After being told by his consultants that his recovery would take two years Richard became concerned that he was never going to get any better.
He was overcome with relief when Grand Prix doctor Sid Watkins, who had helped with driver Ayrton Senna’s Bell’s Palsy, reassured him that he needed to give it more time and he would continue to slowly recover.
![In 2017 Richard cheated death again in another horror crash that saw him be airlifted to hospital where he was treated for serious injuries including a fractured knee](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/03/20/02/82665351-13216659-image-a-28_1710900219984.jpg)
In 2017 Richard cheated death again in another horror crash that saw him be airlifted to hospital where he was treated for serious injuries including a fractured knee
![He was driving a £2million supercar in Switzerland when he lost control before it flipped and burst into flames](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/03/20/02/82665347-13216659-image-a-29_1710900222821.jpg)
He was driving a £2million supercar in Switzerland when he lost control before it flipped and burst into flames
![Richard posing in hospital with the X-ray of his fractured knee from his second crash in 2017](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/03/20/02/82665323-13216659-image-a-30_1710900229094.jpg)
Richard posing in hospital with the X-ray of his fractured knee from his second crash in 2017
Richard has spent a lot of time considering his emotions and mental health since the crash, and recently started his own podcast about the topic, called Who We Are Now, which he presents with his daughter Izzy.
He previously said: ‘After my accident, I spent a lot of time looking out of my hospital window, questioning my emotions, thoughts, life decisions, you name it. Ever since I’ve been on a pretty big journey of self-discovery.’
In 2017 Richard cheated death again in another horror crash that saw him be airlifted to hospital where he was treated for serious injuries including a fractured knee.
He was driving a £2million supercar in Switzerland when he lost control before it flipped and burst into flames.