when this happened i was so upset and very young ( maybe 9/10). i wrote a card to hammond with a curly wurly ( which was his fav chocolate) wishing him the best. got a letter back from jezza and still have it today, saying thank you and signed by him- it is handwritten
What a lovely gesture by you at such a young age and then by Jezza too. Use to waitch Top Gear everyday on Dave back in those days. I was a bairn too and very distressed over it.
I read his book and apparently when James and Jeremy arrived at the hospital with Richard in a coma they were told to be normal with him. Jeremy said to Richard "you're a crap driver" I can imagine him saying it lol
My brother had a head injury and when we saw him in the icu for the first time they said the same thing, all you can do is cry and say "yeah i won't mention it and try not to cry or he'll get upset" it's so weird.
Hammond said a few years after this that despite being lucid during this interview, he doesn't actually remember giving it, and that he effectively lost a year after the accident. Insane to think about, because he's obviously pretty lucid here, that he doesn't recall it happening whatsoever.
Having had a golf ball hit me between the eyes from about 30m away i can say yep, theres whole wads of my life i cant remember prior to the accident, and for about 3 years after only the most random stuff stuck. And i know i am nowhere near as 'smart' as i was before. I could feel the difference. I sometime struggle to form words when speaking. I can read the same paragraph a dozen times without comprehension. Some days are better than others. It was 31 years ago and Im still dealing with it on a daily basis. Brain injuries are weird things.
"Have you seen that film, Memento?" "Probably" See I love the top gear trio and while Clarkson is the legend and James, weirdly, is the most interesting, but I honestly feel that Hammond is the wittiest of the three
My mum had a neurologist join her team shortly after the accident, and in his previous job, he was one of the people who looked at Richard's MRIs. At the time, in his opinion, he was going to be a vegetable IF he survived. It's astonishing that he was able to make the comeback that he did.
this man has led such charmed life. he is part of one of the most memorable ensemble casts of TV presenters. he has survived a major life-changing event. he has been part of some of the most exciting events ever captured on camera. and he is such a humble person. respect.
According to the investigators, when the tire of the Vampire Dragster blew out, Hammond's reflexes were on a par with a combat trained fighter pilot, he reacted precisely as he should have, he saved his own life with his driving prowess that day.
Dario DeNiro Are you a slow thinker? Not familiar with how a car works? Not familiar with emergency maneuvers? Had he reacted .03 seconds later than he did it would have been his death.
@@jasonroman8031 Additionally to that, James May was actually supposed to drive it but he had no time that day. The analysts literally said that because Hammond is a little guy this was what really saved his life. James May could have reacted just as well as Hammond and had the exact same crash but would most likely still be dead, just because he would be taller and thus come into more contact with the ground, ripping his head off.
I was quite young when this happened... eleven years old I believe, and I loved Top Gear and Richard Hammond... I cried and cried and cried and was worried sick the entire time. I made and sent him a card to TG with a hamster on it weightlifting toothpaste (Clarkson and May always mocked him about his white teeth) and told him to stay strong and get well soon... even now, I'm almost 25 years old and it still upsets me when I watch back on these interviews because I remember how I felt as a kid. If that is how a fan felt, well, I can't even imagine how it must have been for his friends and family...
@@Thomas_Bergel I try quite sad when F1 did that tribute to Schumacher actually... it's funny how watching things back can put us right back into that mindset!
I remember this too, loved the boys. Didn’t realise until I looked at the broadcast date that I was only 6! It’s one of very few memories from that young
@@DylRicho no response, but I didn't mind! I was was just happy to see him alive! Top Gear was just one of those programmes that could pick me up no matter the mood, but very much lost my love of it when the boys left, transferred all that love onto The Grand Tour!
I am honestly amazed by how well Richard handled this interview - he covered a serious number of personal issues, in a really sensitive way. I take my hat off to the man. He handled it with humour and sincerity, and I gained an insight into what he has gone through in his recovery......... Jonathon i wasn't so impressed by though - I was upset by how often he went out of his way to turn Richard's personal story into almost mocking him. Ah well, Richard saved this, and I loved the interview overall.
This is the first time I have heard someone speak about post traumatic memory loss AND I am a Hammond fan! In 1976 a met police car apparently flew off a flyover and rolled across a motorway [apparently] with me in it! I had no memory of the whole journey. Bits came back. I was left with memory problems forever. I survived by using lists!! The nhs did nothing and never has done anything to explain what was happening to me _ I didn’t even remember my home. And was car phobic but had no idea why! I was told to learn to drive - which I did whilst quaking and sweating. The driving licence set me free!! And drive powerful cars too! It would be nice to let Richard Hammond know that his description has given relief to me after over 40 years!!
@@pattate9636 try reading Jean's reply again, and try to grasp what she's been through, and how horrendous a brain injury can be. Your brain is what makes you, you. She suffered all these years and you show disrespect to her, what if it happened to you? Would you want everyone to be rude to you? Would you be Ok with the doctors giving you no answers, and you only get an answer when the same thing happens to someone else on TV years later. You should be ashamed of yourself.
@leahcim38 you know that a lot of young people's brains are going to explode once/if they can comprehend what you have write here. Bravo i just wish I could see the look on there faces & eyes RME during nice 1 .
All these years later, thinking it's a miracle he survived. Have to say that Jonathan Ross was a brilliant interviewer/foil for Richard in this period of recovery. The affection is obvious.
Richard has said that he doesn’t remember this interview. This was only about 3 months after the crash and he said that the first year after that crash is just gone. Said he should have taken a lot more time before coming back.
That’s horrible when he says “Mindy had to contemplate raising the kids on her own.” I remember around the time when this happened, it was big news and everyone seemed to have an opinion on it. It’s quite funny how detached he is from the serious and dangerous side of the incident, but as he says. He James and Jeremy had a pact to reflect on it only very briefly . I think if it had gone seriously wrong then it might have been curtains for the whole show anyway.
Anyone who has had a similar head injury & has been in an induced coma will relate to what he is saying. I dont know whether Mr Hammond had a craniectomy but its great when you can say "I need this like I need another hole in my head". I'm with you all the way Richard...........
with a brain injury like that, he would have had some bleeding on the brain and swelling, so to alleviate this they would have had to cut a window to relieve the pressure and drain any blood out.
@@britters220 The doctors considered it, but it ultimately wasn't done. It's because he didn't need surgery that he was able to get his driving license back so quickly.
Brain injury is crazy, my friend also got into a motorcycle accident and hit his head and also went to coma for a week and when he woke up from it, he became like a 5 yr old child. It took many months before he got back to the way used to be.
From what I heard about the accident, it was very fortunate the Hammy is so small. They said if he'd been a bit taller, he would have been decapitated.
it was actually supposed to be james in the car that day, but he couldn’t do it (drawing an utter blank on why) and they got richard to do it instead. if it had been james in there when it crashed, he would’ve died.
Yes and he was not very good when he re-started presenting Top Gear. If you're a great fan you can notice that in this interview he is acting a bit different from his usual personality, despite they talk in contrary.
Oh my god I can't believe this was 2006!? I was about 14 yet I remember this as if it was so recent. As if his accident had only been a couple of years ago !!
I had some classmates in high school, they got into a horrible wreck, it's a miracle no one was killed. I was friends with one guy in the car, he got destroyed and was in an induced coma for many months, 6 I believe. They had to reconstruct his face from photos. There is a large portion of his head that is missing and his face looks pretty messed up but they did a great job considering what they had to work with, he's still recognizable. There was a girl in the crash that suffered serious head trauma, she lost everything up to that point. Literally her entire life all her memories everything just gone. She didn't know her family or friends, she couldn't remember her childhood, education, nothing. Can you imagine being 16-17 years old and having to start life over? She was never the same, her whole personality changed. She was such a sweet, kind, friendly, bubbly girl before the accident, very quiet and withdrawn after, very shy. She came back to school about 3 months after the crash and it was so bittersweet, we were all so happy to have her back but she didn't know who any of us were. Pretty much only the people who were closest to her prior to the accident, her twin brother and best friends, were the only ones who interacted with her afterwards to keep things simple and not overwhelm her. Everyone was super respectful and kept their distance, everyone just treated her normally, no one wanted to remind her of the accident or what she had lost. The driver of the car was uninjured and he received so much hate from the entire school that he ended up dropping out. The girl who lost her memory was extremely beloved in the school, she was home coming queen, prom queen, etc, just the sweetest girl, so people were really really mad at the driver for ruining her life. He came back to school for I think it was 3 days before dropping out, multiple people threated to hurt him.
Here is a story that one could not make up. Back this March I suffered a cardiac arrest while attending a Church meeting in Lambeth. Very fortunately, at the time I was apparently in conversation with a female paramedic from the St Johns Ambulance. She got my heart beating again after a few minutes by virtually caving in my chest and I was rushed to St Tomas's where I arrived after a short time. My wife took a couple of days to find where I had been taken to as someone had given the hospital my incorrect birth date. However, having been assured that I should be OK, by a few friends of mine who were present at the time eventually arrived at the ICU department to find me in an induced Coma in a highly distressed and concerned but otherwise calm disposition. However, her already high-stress levels were about to get much much higher. She enquired to the doctor as to my prognosis. He looked at the file slowly shook his head and replied that "your husband's heart was not beating for over 30 minutes and so he is highly unlikely to ever regain consciousness. However, if he does regain consciousness it is all but certain that he will have received serious brain damage," or words very much to that effect. She understandably went into what can only be described as an emotional fit screaming all the way to the Cost a Fortune Coffee Shop where she attempted to regain some form of relative composure. After several hours and having rung around our family to break the awful news she tearfully returned to the ICU. At this point, the same doctor came to her and said, "I am so sorry Mrs. Powell I was reading from the wrong file, ( the guy in the bed next to mine) your husband should eventually make a full recovery as we can't find anything wrong with his heart and still have no idea why he even had a cardiac arrest in the first place."
I'm glad you are able to write this story. But I am so incredibly sorry for the scare your wife must have had. My mum is currently in hospital and the strain on the care system is real.
@@rdb4996 Sorry to hear that. Soon after this, I had serious complications in my abdominal region, was in an ICU for 2 months, and was in the ward for another 6 weeks. To cut a very long story and extremely traumatic experience short. I am still expected to make a full recovery. I have some particular issues which made my stay in the ICU a horror story, to say the least. Having said that the strain in the care system must vary greatly from place to place. With a couple of exceptions, the nurses were wonderful and my treatment was as well-managed and comprehensive as could be reasonably expected. My aftercare, which is extensive has been excellent, the district nurses wonderful and their service exemplary. My GP and his surgery have also been top-class in every way. I genuinely believe that I have one of the best GPs in the country. I had plenty of time to talk to many nurses over this time. Of course, the job is hard work and stressful as I am sure nursing always is even on a quiet day. However, none of them seemed to be overly concerned with any additional issues, and everything seemed to run just about as smoothly as any reasonable person could expect. Even the food was better than I expected when I was eventually allowed to eat any of it. In general, I would give the hospital, the staff, and the NHS in general at least 8 out of 10. My experience leads to this advice. However well-intentioned the entire system may or may not be, you would be well advised to keep as close a watch on your mother as you can while she is under their care. Mistakes do get made, and some of them may be of the fatal variety. Not all of the staff are either suited to or well qualified enough for the responsibility they hold. If your mother complains take it seriously making sure that you get full and proper answers from the doctors and nurses. Remember to stay as focused, polite, calm, and rational as possible as if you piss these people off they have been known to take it out on their patients. I don't guess this, I know this as I have several highly qualified medical professionals either within my family or on my list of close friends. Do not allow them to claim, as an excuse that they don't have enough funds or staff as this is not your concern, your mother is. Like all organizations, they have priorities, and regretfully those who properly demand it very often get it, or get it first.
@@garypowell1540 I fully agree with you. i’ve had 8 cardiac arrests, nephrotic syndrome (kidney damage) and severe asthma attacks before i even reached 10 years old. I’m 27 years old now, i still sometimes get really bad chest pain or kidney stones (which can be an indicator my kidney is getting bad again) and 9/10 times my GP tries to brush it off as nothing important and something that will just fade away. I always have to demand my GP to actually do a proper checkup and take my condition serious before he even bothers looking at it. Similar thing happened just a couple weeks ago, my little cousin who is 6 years old had been having extreme pain near his stomach and GP kept saying “he probably just has a bad fever since his body temp is high” and gave him antibiotics. Not even 2 days later my aunt had to bring him to the hospital in the middle of the night and he went straight into surgery an hour later. His appendix had ruptured 2 days prior. He was only so much away from an infection spreading throughout his entire body which would’ve killed him all because the GP’s negligence.
tbh iv never got that joke coming from English people its abit rich they have no identity past tea football an the queen. James is nearly Welsh an a Republican but still to beige to calling out Richard for Americanisms.
@@ridanann but your identity is itself a development of English and British culture. Its a bit like calling your own dad ugly and not realising the implication.
When i was 17 i had a motor cycle accident i am 73 now and still cant remember the crash for several months after if i did anything phycical my brain would start racing and i would have to sit down till it setteled very unsetteling but kept it to myself
Wow! it's really scary how anyone can experience stuff like that and just have to suffer through it, I hope there'll be a day where no one will have to suffer from something like this, Hope you have a nice day.
The fact with this amazing trio is the banter an they find humour in everything they are doing an have done - of course we're glad Richard made it back to work with his mates! Wishing the same to Flintoff-who's taken to hospital after crash on top gear set today. 🤞
It was Frankie Boyle's joke about him that made it all good fun for me. Not only were we able to laugh with him, but laugh at him for being such an annoying putz, and suffering a life threatening crash. Obviously, an agonising burned alive death would have been the perfect punchline, but for a Top Geartard he's actually not nearly as annoying as the tall retartded one.
I've had a similar situation in a coma,then I realised it may have been all the morphine,that sent me on one weird trip. I was out for two weeks.kept waking up to sneeze,im a hay fever sufferer,it was July,not pleasant with 130 skull fractures 4 broken ribs,. Three best things about my head injuries, I can hide my own Easter eggs, I get to meet new people every day,and, I can hide my own Easter eggs,best therapy is genuine laughter,
A lot of what he went through afterwards may have something to do with the amount of Morphine he was dripped during his hospitalization. Withdrawal from an opiate has some very odd symptoms when it comes to concentration, depression, focus, sleep, etc, and can be very painful if not done correctly. They may have also put him in withdrawal during the coma, I don't know, but if they waited until afterwards, to control his pain, some of those symptoms could be attributed to that. His "tree on the hill" (while his wife yelled at him) story from when he was comatose, is very interesting, and touching.
He was still far from right in this video, can’t remember how long after the crash this was but it wasn’t that long. Took him quite a while to fully recover.
there is a form of unconsciousness that allows for person to be seemingly conscious, even talk, but it's more like when someone is sleep walking/talking
I can relate to the experience a little, I rolled a 1994 Ford Ranger standard cab pickup in 1997 at round about 75 mph receiving 3 concussions, hemorrhaging of the brain, loads of stiches a broken neck and two collapsed lungs. Was conscious the whole time. At the scene, in the helicopter, the e.r. and intensive care....multiple days....don't remember it, lol. Don't remember punching the staff....😞....don't remember being strapped down....😣....two or three times lol....
@@TheBushRanger. I was in the hospital on bedrest for around 14 weeks then had my spinal fusion the day before I was released from the hospital. They had to wait for my other injuries to heal enough before they could perform the fusion. A-ok since then though. Still ride motorcycles, snowboard, jetski....
Post-traumatic memory loss sounds like Transient Global Amnesia (TGA), but is perhaps quite different. I’ve had a TGA episode, no clear cause. Completely lost all memory of an hour or two - but that reduced slowly to 30 mins completely gone. And I asked the same question of the ambulance crew several times, at 5 min intervals.
Imagine Hamster crashing a jetcar and being well after a few month and Michael Schumacher on the other hand... Glad, RH is okay! Read his book "On the edge"...
@Don homer Edited it as it is true that they're not a foot apart. Well, if you'd be smart: 2x 5.5 inches is 11 inches and not a foot. Maths is difficult I know. "Bruv" ;-) Says everything I need to know about your ugly mug. Nothing "Don" about you "bruv". FYI: the reason I use a fake profile picture is because I don't want these kind of conversations and my personal opinion to have an impact on the stock price of my company.
Traumatic brain injuries are insidious. Car accident at 15 YO, 60 years ago. Still don't remember accident, hands still shake, memory is atrocious, and told I had a personality change, etc., etc. If so, I like this one. lol
As a kiddo, I watched Top Gear, Dirty Jobs, and Mythbusters rather than cartoons as a consequence of an absolute nerd of a father. I have a very vague recollection of when I was 5, my mother had just had major surgery on her foot and was couch bound for an extended period of time. For several months, I couldn’t watch any top gear reruns as it made my mother upset. I never connected the dots. I don’t know if I was ever told about the accident, but it must have also really struck a nerve with my father whose childhood best friend survived (but was lost as a consequence of) multiple traumatic brain injuries from motorcycle accidents.
when this happened i was so upset and very young ( maybe 9/10). i wrote a card to hammond with a curly wurly ( which was his fav chocolate) wishing him the best. got a letter back from jezza and still have it today, saying thank you and signed by him- it is handwritten
Omg I wish I’d have sent one I met hammond with his family on holiday before and he was lovely
I would love to see that.
What a lovely gesture by you at such a young age and then by Jezza too.
Use to waitch Top Gear everyday on Dave back in those days. I was a bairn too and very distressed over it.
@@mutestingray sure thing!
omg that is brilliant
I read his book and apparently when James and Jeremy arrived at the hospital with Richard in a coma they were told to be normal with him. Jeremy said to Richard "you're a crap driver" I can imagine him saying it lol
😂 brilliant
My brother had a head injury and when we saw him in the icu for the first time they said the same thing, all you can do is cry and say "yeah i won't mention it and try not to cry or he'll get upset" it's so weird.
What is the name of that book?
@@isaonderwaater8136 Richard Hammond on the edge. my story
@@TechyMantis thank you
Hammond said a few years after this that despite being lucid during this interview, he doesn't actually remember giving it, and that he effectively lost a year after the accident. Insane to think about, because he's obviously pretty lucid here, that he doesn't recall it happening whatsoever.
Hol'on, he actually forgets this interview????
@@dawnemery6029 Yes
Having had a golf ball hit me between the eyes from about 30m away i can say yep, theres whole wads of my life i cant remember prior to the accident, and for about 3 years after only the most random stuff stuck. And i know i am nowhere near as 'smart' as i was before. I could feel the difference. I sometime struggle to form words when speaking. I can read the same paragraph a dozen times without comprehension. Some days are better than others. It was 31 years ago and Im still dealing with it on a daily basis.
Brain injuries are weird things.
wow
They did a Top Gear live tour in South Africa that summer too and he's since said he's got no memory of the entire tour
I can just picture Clarkson going into the hospital at night, and playing Phil Collins over the PA system...
😂
@Kieran Slapman have you watched any old top gear ?
Aaaaaaaaa cen feeeel it coaaamin
Kieran Slapman you must not have watched old Top Gear if you don’t get the joke. Clarkson used to play Genesis over loud speakers to annoy Hammond.
Dean Robert that’s such a Clarkson thing to do
"Have you seen that film, Memento?"
"Probably"
See I love the top gear trio and while Clarkson is the legend and James, weirdly, is the most interesting, but I honestly feel that Hammond is the wittiest of the three
If I remember correctly, Richard's last words before it left the road and crashed was 'I've never felt so alive'
Seb Gibbs ironic
Also, there's "Watch this!"
"Hold my beer"
@@twoflower8264 "hammond you blithering idiot!"
@@hsk_245 He could save others from death, but not himself.
My mum had a neurologist join her team shortly after the accident, and in his previous job, he was one of the people who looked at Richard's MRIs. At the time, in his opinion, he was going to be a vegetable IF he survived. It's astonishing that he was able to make the comeback that he did.
To be fair, he just had to get back to vegetable level to be back to normal.
I wouldn't want a doctor to be discussing my medical incident with random people
He was healthy and looked after himself it increases ur healing ability
this man has led such charmed life. he is part of one of the most memorable ensemble casts of TV presenters. he has survived a major life-changing event. he has been part of some of the most exciting events ever captured on camera. and he is such a humble person. respect.
According to the investigators, when the tire of the Vampire Dragster blew out, Hammond's reflexes were on a par with a combat trained fighter pilot, he reacted precisely as he should have, he saved his own life with his driving prowess that day.
Hes dead. This is a clone
Yes a perfectly intentional barrel roll shoving his own skull 6 inches into planet earth.
Dario DeNiro Are you a slow thinker?
Not familiar with how a car works?
Not familiar with emergency maneuvers?
Had he reacted .03 seconds later than he did it would have been his death.
@@tkerrs9795 Like Paul McCartney
@@jasonroman8031 Additionally to that, James May was actually supposed to drive it but he had no time that day. The analysts literally said that because Hammond is a little guy this was what really saved his life. James May could have reacted just as well as Hammond and had the exact same crash but would most likely still be dead, just because he would be taller and thus come into more contact with the ground, ripping his head off.
My missus (RIP) was almost inconsolable when this accident happened. She adored hampster.
🇭🇲👍🏿
Sorry to hear of your loss
Not a copycat accident, we hope?
I was quite young when this happened... eleven years old I believe, and I loved Top Gear and Richard Hammond... I cried and cried and cried and was worried sick the entire time. I made and sent him a card to TG with a hamster on it weightlifting toothpaste (Clarkson and May always mocked him about his white teeth) and told him to stay strong and get well soon... even now, I'm almost 25 years old and it still upsets me when I watch back on these interviews because I remember how I felt as a kid. If that is how a fan felt, well, I can't even imagine how it must have been for his friends and family...
sophie deabreu
That‘s how i felt after michael schumachers skiing accident in 2013... although i was some years older...
@@Thomas_Bergel I try quite sad when F1 did that tribute to Schumacher actually... it's funny how watching things back can put us right back into that mindset!
Did he ever send one back to you? (Also 25 and a die-hard Top Gear fan here, so I was the same age when I found out about it.)
I remember this too, loved the boys. Didn’t realise until I looked at the broadcast date that I was only 6! It’s one of very few memories from that young
@@DylRicho no response, but I didn't mind! I was was just happy to see him alive! Top Gear was just one of those programmes that could pick me up no matter the mood, but very much lost my love of it when the boys left, transferred all that love onto The Grand Tour!
I am honestly amazed by how well Richard handled this interview - he covered a serious number of personal issues, in a really sensitive way. I take my hat off to the man. He handled it with humour and sincerity, and I gained an insight into what he has gone through in his recovery......... Jonathon i wasn't so impressed by though - I was upset by how often he went out of his way to turn Richard's personal story into almost mocking him. Ah well, Richard saved this, and I loved the interview overall.
"Wichawd Hammond was dwiving a vewy fast wacing caw."
Wocket, not wacing.
Jonathan Woss said that..?
My first thoughts too😂
Hey, whotacism is not a waughing matter!
@Ryan Lumsden aww you mad about a funny joke?
This is the first time I have heard someone speak about post traumatic memory loss AND I am a Hammond fan! In 1976 a met police car apparently flew off a flyover and rolled across a motorway [apparently] with me in it! I had no memory of the whole journey. Bits came back. I was left with memory problems forever. I survived by using lists!! The nhs did nothing and never has done anything to explain what was happening to me _ I didn’t even remember my home. And was car phobic but had no idea why! I was told to learn to drive - which I did whilst quaking and sweating. The driving licence set me free!! And drive powerful cars too! It would be nice to let Richard Hammond know that his description has given relief to me after over 40 years!!
What you doing in an old bill motor in the first place Jean? You naughty bitch
That moment when a driving licence is more usefull than the nhs
@@pattate9636 try reading Jean's reply again, and try to grasp what she's been through, and how horrendous a brain injury can be. Your brain is what makes you, you. She suffered all these years and you show disrespect to her, what if it happened to you? Would you want everyone to be rude to you? Would you be Ok with the doctors giving you no answers, and you only get an answer when the same thing happens to someone else on TV years later. You should be ashamed of yourself.
Jean wont remember David Bowie dedicating a song to him either.
@leahcim38 you know that a lot of young people's brains are going to explode once/if they can comprehend what you have write here.
Bravo i just wish I could see the look on there faces & eyes RME during nice 1 .
All these years later, thinking it's a miracle he survived. Have to say that Jonathan Ross was a brilliant interviewer/foil for Richard in this period of recovery. The affection is obvious.
Richard has said that he doesn’t remember this interview. This was only about 3 months after the crash and he said that the first year after that crash is just gone. Said he should have taken a lot more time before coming back.
Definitely, but the annoying thing about brain injuries is that you damage the organ responsible for making good decisions.
@@Lady-Seashell-Bikini And his organ was always a few keys short of a full instrument anyways.
@@vangroover1903 i like that metaphor, i'll be taking it
@@exhaleinhale999 Oh, please do.
That’s horrible when he says “Mindy had to contemplate raising the kids on her own.” I remember around the time when this happened, it was big news and everyone seemed to have an opinion on it. It’s quite funny how detached he is from the serious and dangerous side of the incident, but as he says. He James and Jeremy had a pact to reflect on it only very briefly . I think if it had gone seriously wrong then it might have been curtains for the whole show anyway.
Anyone who has had a similar head injury & has been in an induced coma will relate to what he is saying. I dont know whether Mr Hammond had a craniectomy but its great when you can say "I need this like I need another hole in my head". I'm with you all the way Richard...........
Yep.
Yep
with a brain injury like that, he would have had some bleeding on the brain and swelling, so to alleviate this they would have had to cut a window to relieve the pressure and drain any blood out.
@@britters220 The doctors considered it, but it ultimately wasn't done. It's because he didn't need surgery that he was able to get his driving license back so quickly.
Brain injury is crazy, my friend also got into a motorcycle accident and hit his head and also went to coma for a week and when he woke up from it, he became like a 5 yr old child. It took many months before he got back to the way used to be.
@Don homer David Smith had an even bigger bang on the head.
Did he fully recover?
From what I heard about the accident, it was very fortunate the Hammy is so small. They said if he'd been a bit taller, he would have been decapitated.
it was actually supposed to be james in the car that day, but he couldn’t do it (drawing an utter blank on why) and they got richard to do it instead. if it had been james in there when it crashed, he would’ve died.
@@tealwashablemarker8886 Maybe James wasn't "meant" to be there? Dunno....
@@tealwashablemarker8886 Was a schedulin issue I heard.
After seeing that horrible musical accompaniment I bet he's thankful he couldn't remember after 5 minutes!
Yes, he had the good taste to blank them.
grease lightning thoug
Not 100% on this but didn't he later say (maybe it was in the documentary he did on Evil Knievel) that he has no recollection of doing this interview?
Yes he did
Yes and he was not very good when he re-started presenting Top Gear. If you're a great fan you can notice that in this interview he is acting a bit different from his usual personality, despite they talk in contrary.
Think he said it to Jonathan the next time he was on the show, which was less than a year later.
One of the best books I have ever read. Lent it and never got it back unfortunately. I'll have to find it again.
Oh my god I can't believe this was 2006!? I was about 14 yet I remember this as if it was so recent. As if his accident had only been a couple of years ago !!
I was 3 years old, and I’m 17 now
Ooh, it's only 13 years ago. Nothing has happened since..
He had a second crash in 2015
Scott Kindness wow you clearly do not understand the sarcasm in the original comment
@@NorthPoem no I didn't
im from the future might wanna take that back
he's got very similar mannerisms to Pete Doherty. That wide eyed response he has when he's answering questions
A wocket car? Sounds like something from a Dr Seuss book. There's a wocket car in my pocket.
A rocket in my pocket ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
The car was designed by Elmer Fudd
What a perfect interview!!!!!
Its always nice to see a host not just talk over the guest. Honestly truly professional
Best anti speeding advert according to Frankie Boyle: "Footage of Richard Hammond trying to remember his wedding day."
Love this man, sod the cars they are pure comic entertainment, especially Hammond.
I had some classmates in high school, they got into a horrible wreck, it's a miracle no one was killed. I was friends with one guy in the car, he got destroyed and was in an induced coma for many months, 6 I believe. They had to reconstruct his face from photos. There is a large portion of his head that is missing and his face looks pretty messed up but they did a great job considering what they had to work with, he's still recognizable. There was a girl in the crash that suffered serious head trauma, she lost everything up to that point. Literally her entire life all her memories everything just gone. She didn't know her family or friends, she couldn't remember her childhood, education, nothing. Can you imagine being 16-17 years old and having to start life over? She was never the same, her whole personality changed. She was such a sweet, kind, friendly, bubbly girl before the accident, very quiet and withdrawn after, very shy. She came back to school about 3 months after the crash and it was so bittersweet, we were all so happy to have her back but she didn't know who any of us were. Pretty much only the people who were closest to her prior to the accident, her twin brother and best friends, were the only ones who interacted with her afterwards to keep things simple and not overwhelm her. Everyone was super respectful and kept their distance, everyone just treated her normally, no one wanted to remind her of the accident or what she had lost. The driver of the car was uninjured and he received so much hate from the entire school that he ended up dropping out. The girl who lost her memory was extremely beloved in the school, she was home coming queen, prom queen, etc, just the sweetest girl, so people were really really mad at the driver for ruining her life. He came back to school for I think it was 3 days before dropping out, multiple people threated to hurt him.
a terrifying story
Here is a story that one could not make up.
Back this March I suffered a cardiac arrest while attending a Church meeting in Lambeth. Very fortunately, at the time I was apparently in conversation with a female paramedic from the St Johns Ambulance. She got my heart beating again after a few minutes by virtually caving in my chest and I was rushed to St Tomas's where I arrived after a short time. My wife took a couple of days to find where I had been taken to as someone had given the hospital my incorrect birth date. However, having been assured that I should be OK, by a few friends of mine who were present at the time eventually arrived at the ICU department to find me in an induced Coma in a highly distressed and concerned but otherwise calm disposition.
However, her already high-stress levels were about to get much much higher. She enquired to the doctor as to my prognosis. He looked at the file slowly shook his head and replied that "your husband's heart was not beating for over 30 minutes and so he is highly unlikely to ever regain consciousness. However, if he does regain consciousness it is all but certain that he will have received serious brain damage," or words very much to that effect. She understandably went into what can only be described as an emotional fit screaming all the way to the Cost a Fortune Coffee Shop where she attempted to regain some form of relative composure. After several hours and having rung around our family to break the awful news she tearfully returned to the ICU. At this point, the same doctor came to her and said, "I am so sorry Mrs. Powell I was reading from the wrong file, ( the guy in the bed next to mine) your husband should eventually make a full recovery as we can't find anything wrong with his heart and still have no idea why he even had a cardiac arrest in the first place."
I'm glad you are able to write this story. But I am so incredibly sorry for the scare your wife must have had. My mum is currently in hospital and the strain on the care system is real.
@@rdb4996 Sorry to hear that. Soon after this, I had serious complications in my abdominal region, was in an ICU for 2 months, and was in the ward for another 6 weeks. To cut a very long story and extremely traumatic experience short. I am still expected to make a full recovery. I have some particular issues which made my stay in the ICU a horror story, to say the least. Having said that the strain in the care system must vary greatly from place to place. With a couple of exceptions, the nurses were wonderful and my treatment was as well-managed and comprehensive as could be reasonably expected. My aftercare, which is extensive has been excellent, the district nurses wonderful and their service exemplary. My GP and his surgery have also been top-class in every way. I genuinely believe that I have one of the best GPs in the country. I had plenty of time to talk to many nurses over this time. Of course, the job is hard work and stressful as I am sure nursing always is even on a quiet day. However, none of them seemed to be overly concerned with any additional issues, and everything seemed to run just about as smoothly as any reasonable person could expect. Even the food was better than I expected when I was eventually allowed to eat any of it. In general, I would give the hospital, the staff, and the NHS in general at least 8 out of 10.
My experience leads to this advice. However well-intentioned the entire system may or may not be, you would be well advised to keep as close a watch on your mother as you can while she is under their care. Mistakes do get made, and some of them may be of the fatal variety. Not all of the staff are either suited to or well qualified enough for the responsibility they hold. If your mother complains take it seriously making sure that you get full and proper answers from the doctors and nurses. Remember to stay as focused, polite, calm, and rational as possible as if you piss these people off they have been known to take it out on their patients. I don't guess this, I know this as I have several highly qualified medical professionals either within my family or on my list of close friends. Do not allow them to claim, as an excuse that they don't have enough funds or staff as this is not your concern, your mother is.
Like all organizations, they have priorities, and regretfully those who properly demand it very often get it, or get it first.
@@garypowell1540 I fully agree with you.
i’ve had 8 cardiac arrests, nephrotic syndrome (kidney damage) and severe asthma attacks before i even reached 10 years old.
I’m 27 years old now, i still sometimes get really bad chest pain or kidney stones (which can be an indicator my kidney is getting bad again) and 9/10 times my GP tries to brush it off as nothing important and something that will just fade away. I always have to demand my GP to actually do a proper checkup and take my condition serious before he even bothers looking at it.
Similar thing happened just a couple weeks ago, my little cousin who is 6 years old had been having extreme pain near his stomach and GP kept saying “he probably just has a bad fever since his body temp is high” and gave him antibiotics. Not even 2 days later my aunt had to bring him to the hospital in the middle of the night and he went straight into surgery an hour later. His appendix had ruptured 2 days prior. He was only so much away from an infection spreading throughout his entire body which would’ve killed him all because the GP’s negligence.
Hammond doesn't remember doing this interview. Turns out he wasn't "all fixed" yet.
14 years ago. Wow! Where has all that time gone!
glasgow coma scale is a tool used to determine head injuries, consciousness levels etc
It's OK, he's small and infantile enough to keep connected to his kids. Love you Richard, keep happy and safe.
The Hamster wheel broke
Richard Hammond/David Tennant ... separated at birth.
Nope cos I've never fancied David Tennant so they can't be that similar
Ahaha I’ve fancied both 😂😍
if u squashed david Tennant maybe but davids way fitter then a hamster
And here all I can think is: Hammond for Dr. Who. 😎😁
@@carlfranz6805 you should spent and hour on wattpad
He's the wittiest of three the great trio.
I'm so proud to have the Hamster as a fellow American.
Congratulations...somebody finally got it! ; - )
tbh iv never got that joke coming from English people its abit rich they have no identity past tea football an the queen. James is nearly Welsh an a Republican but still to beige to calling out Richard for Americanisms.
learn to take a bit of banter lad, thats the point it supposed to be annoying
@@ridanann but your identity is itself a development of English and British culture. Its a bit like calling your own dad ugly and not realising the implication.
I must admit he has an amazing sense of humour
Johnathan Ross is one of the best interviewers he is genuinely interested
Disagree. He talks too much, like most American talk show hosts. Watch Graham Norton; he knows when to shut up and let the guests talk.
Richard is genuinely hilarious!
Still remember the day he crashed, It was the height of top gear, I actually cried
When i was 17 i had a motor cycle accident i am 73 now and still cant remember the crash for several months after if i did anything phycical my brain would start racing and i would have to sit down till it setteled very unsetteling but kept it to myself
Amazing how we can repair when younger
Wow! it's really scary how anyone can experience stuff like that and just have to suffer through it, I hope there'll be a day where no one will have to suffer from something like this, Hope you have a nice day.
The fact with this amazing trio is the banter an they find humour in everything they are doing an have done - of course we're glad Richard made it back to work with his mates! Wishing the same to Flintoff-who's taken to hospital after crash on top gear set today. 🤞
It was Frankie Boyle's joke about him that made it all good fun for me. Not only were we able to laugh with him, but laugh at him for being such an annoying putz, and suffering a life threatening crash. Obviously, an agonising burned alive death would have been the perfect punchline, but for a Top Geartard he's actually not nearly as annoying as the tall retartded one.
@vangroover1903 🤝😂 yep you are not wrong there ! O frankie Boyle is dynamite ain't he ...lol. brilliant
Hammond: “Racing.”
This bloke: “wHaCiNg”
Yeah, it is a signature trait of Jonathan Ross, he cannot pronounce R.
@@cmdrtianyilin8107 *Jonathan Woss
Apparently he can’t remember this anymore
I believe it. He didn't yet know the front right tire exploded, so this was right after he got out.
I've had a similar situation in a coma,then I realised it may have been all the morphine,that sent me on one weird trip. I was out for two weeks.kept waking up to sneeze,im a hay fever sufferer,it was July,not pleasant with 130 skull fractures 4 broken ribs,. Three best things about my head injuries, I can hide my own Easter eggs, I get to meet new people every day,and, I can hide my own Easter eggs,best therapy is genuine laughter,
Thank God for the NHS! All three of them are National treasures.
Such a geniune bloke
A true British Gentleman
9:11 An accurate description of Jonathan Ross.
"Yes... just standing further away." :DDD
You can see how fascinated Ross is by this subject. It makes for a cool interview.
it also heightens my interest in the brain, its such a cool, abstract organ that is VITAL for your wellbeing
To be fair, it would have been hard for a twerp like RH to find a bigger twerp to talk to about it.
Love Richard ..
A lot of what he went through afterwards may have something to do with the amount of Morphine he was dripped during his hospitalization. Withdrawal from an opiate has some very odd symptoms when it comes to concentration, depression, focus, sleep, etc, and can be very painful if not done correctly. They may have also put him in withdrawal during the coma, I don't know, but if they waited until afterwards, to control his pain, some of those symptoms could be attributed to that. His "tree on the hill" (while his wife yelled at him) story from when he was comatose, is very interesting, and touching.
I’ve also experienced a Acquired Brain injury a few years ago and I can relate to Richard Hammond’s Experiences At Hospital
Did you recover?
As a person that can relate to people relating to people, I can relate to you.
He was still far from right in this video, can’t remember how long after the crash this was but it wasn’t that long. Took him quite a while to fully recover.
3 months I think
2006?!?!? Holy Bald Headed Jesus! That seems like yesterday!! Where did 14 years disappear to??
The past?
Billy don't be a hero was done by Bo Donaldson and the Haywords. Paper lace sang "The night Chicago died"
He did one of the many arrangements of that old civil war song
Insurance, "Any accidents?" "On the public roads? Nope!"
What a loss if he didn't make it. Can't bare to think about it
"Mistah Witchet Hammond". 😂😂😂😂
He should have yelled out "HAMMONNDD!!" when he introduced Richard
there is a form of unconsciousness that allows for person to be seemingly conscious, even talk, but it's more like when someone is sleep walking/talking
Been there done that. I forgot to remember not to forget something
how much poorer the world would have been if things had gone worse for him that day.
To my understanding, he doesn't actually remember this interview.
Little did he know what happens 11 years later!
I can relate to the experience a little, I rolled a 1994 Ford Ranger standard cab pickup in 1997 at round about 75 mph receiving 3 concussions, hemorrhaging of the brain, loads of stiches a broken neck and two collapsed lungs.
Was conscious the whole time. At the scene, in the helicopter, the e.r. and intensive care....multiple days....don't remember it, lol. Don't remember punching the staff....😞....don't remember being strapped down....😣....two or three times lol....
That doesn’t sound good, can’t contemplate having those injuries hope you are on the mend, good luck with everything 👍🏻
@@mayscough72 thank you so much, I'm right as rain now. Been back to sportbikes, motocross and snowboarding like I used to do 😁.
@@richardpichan6916 great news friend 👍🏻
@@richardpichan6916 that’s awesome Richard how long did it take to recover?
@@TheBushRanger. I was in the hospital on bedrest for around 14 weeks then had my spinal fusion the day before I was released from the hospital.
They had to wait for my other injuries to heal enough before they could perform the fusion.
A-ok since then though. Still ride motorcycles, snowboard, jetski....
I'm impressed he can walk in them stilettos
Glad you and family are ok....
Dudley Moore looks amazing. I hope he can still play piano!
Awesome. What a professional.
Post-traumatic memory loss sounds like Transient Global Amnesia (TGA), but is perhaps quite different. I’ve had a TGA episode, no clear cause. Completely lost all memory of an hour or two - but that reduced slowly to 30 mins completely gone. And I asked the same question of the ambulance crew several times, at 5 min intervals.
So now i know when Richard crashed in Season 13 Episode 2 why they act like it's no big deal.
Didaka D what did he crash in that episode?
@@VINNIEJONES10 Google it, you'll find it easily.
@@VINNIEJONES10 in another car. He was in a red Honda (I think civic, not rly sure) and he had to hit some objects. One of them was a car.
Didaka D was this the teenage driving thing they did? I believe it was a Hyundai S Coupe
@@VINNIEJONES10 yes it was the same challenge not sure about the car it is honda or hyundai tho
Ohh I thought this was after the second big crash!
Imagine Hamster crashing a jetcar and being well after a few month and Michael Schumacher on the other hand... Glad, RH is okay! Read his book "On the edge"...
This guy has a great sense of humor...maybe comedy would save him an ICU stint or two.
7% of Richard was left in the car wreck
GET RICHARD HAMMOND IN A 5TH DOCTOR OUTFIT OMG
The front RHS tyre blew out and caused the crash.
The Royal Horticultural Society were to blame then?
Richard has always been angry thou
His memory was like Dory the fish from Finding Nemo.
I thought his name was Richard not witchard
It’s so nice how u tube get the sound to arrive at the wrong time-brilliant
Hammond later he said he couldn't remember doing this interview
A lot of guests on that show say the very same thing.
I was 10 months old when this happened
Ross always thinks he's the star in these programmes, he just won't shut up and let the guest talk
Like most talk show hosts basically. Graham Norton and Craig Ferguson are the only real talk show hosts that know how to do their job.
Alex Wells Norton brings politics into his shows to much.
@@alexwells6876 Conan O'Brien
O'Brien, Norton, Ferguson.
Ireland produces treasures.
It is annoying.
did anybody ever realise that the height difference between Clarkson and May is the same as between May and Hammond? 5.5 inches.
@Don homer ooops I didn't want to cause a snowflake to melt...
@Don homer
Edited it as it is true that they're not a foot apart.
Well, if you'd be smart: 2x 5.5 inches is 11 inches and not a foot. Maths is difficult I know. "Bruv" ;-) Says everything I need to know about your ugly mug. Nothing "Don" about you "bruv".
FYI: the reason I use a fake profile picture is because I don't want these kind of conversations and my personal opinion to have an impact on the stock price of my company.
@Don homer Dude you're fighting on lost ground. We know the world is too complicated for you. Sorry "bruv". Now go back to cleaning toilets :-*
@Don homer calling me an ugly cunt while looking like you're about to rip one. 😆 dude, get a life, honestly.
Don homer clarkson is 6ft 5
Traumatic brain injuries are insidious. Car accident at 15 YO, 60 years ago. Still don't remember accident, hands still shake, memory is atrocious, and told I had a personality change, etc., etc. If so, I like this one. lol
If I remember correctly, Richard's last words before he left the road and crashed were " I'm a driving god!!"
Have you seen the film momento?.... probably
man JR likes the sound of his own voice, how about shush after a question and let richard answer it?
Richard Hammond looks like David tennant
Bob Odenkirk’s British accent is pretty good!
I have never seen someone else comment that
I always thought I was the only one who thought it
As a kiddo, I watched Top Gear, Dirty Jobs, and Mythbusters rather than cartoons as a consequence of an absolute nerd of a father. I have a very vague recollection of when I was 5, my mother had just had major surgery on her foot and was couch bound for an extended period of time.
For several months, I couldn’t watch any top gear reruns as it made my mother upset. I never connected the dots. I don’t know if I was ever told about the accident, but it must have also really struck a nerve with my father whose childhood best friend survived (but was lost as a consequence of) multiple traumatic brain injuries from motorcycle accidents.
Good, so he changed…. Now he’s called Jeremy Clarkson 😂
We'll, he's certainly made up for the virtual 2-year sobriety with all that gin. lol