Top Gear staff suffer from PTSD after Freddie Flintoff’s crash and have been reported sick indefinitely
Top Gear employees are signed off with PTSD after witnessing Freddie Flintoff’s horror car crash: ‘Terrible scenes you really don’t want to see again’ have left the crew ‘struggling’ – as the fate of TV’s the star remains unknown
Several members of the Top Gear production crew who witnessed Freddie Flintoff’s terrifying car accident have been declared indefinitely ill with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal the high speed accident and the aftermath of seeing the former England cricketer injured has had a ‘significant effect’ on workers. It prevents them from going back to work.
Sources say a large crowd of staff attended last December’s smash at the Top Gear test track at Dunsfold Park airfield in Surrey.
Flintoff, 45, suffered horrific injuries to his jaw and broken ribs. It is not known whether he will return to work for television.
One of them said: ‘The scenes were horrible, something you really wouldn’t want to see. The idea of returning to do that kind of work again is just too much for some people.
Top Gear employees suffer from PTSD after witnessing Freddie Flintoff’s horrific car accident (pictured).
Staff watched in horror as the 45-year-old crashed an open three-wheeled Morgan Super 3 car at 130 mph
“It has been a terribly difficult time for everyone involved in the crash. Some still struggle with it and have therefore been put out of work.’
Flintoff has not yet taken legal action, but it is not known if anyone on the production team has.
The series Flintoff was filming was immediately halted and canceled for the remainder of its run.
It’s unknown if the show itself will return at all, although Top Gear bosses are keen to continue with it as they’ve built it into a lucrative franchise and brand around the world.
Flintoff, who worked on the high-octane show alongside Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris, was badly injured when the high-speed three-wheeled roofless car he was riding in flipped over and skidded down a track.
It has since emerged that he had to wait 45 minutes for an air ambulance and that no medical stretcher could be found.
The TV presenter, pictured here with co-presenters Chris Harris and Paddy McGuinness, was filming the latest series of the show, which was due to air this fall
Pictured: Construction works as bulldozers move into the long-standing Top Gear airport filming location, ready to build thousands of new homes
He was not wearing a helmet and the 210 mph Morgan Super 3 sports car was not equipped with an airbag.
The BBC is accused of breaching its duty of care to Flintoff, whose son Corey said shortly after the accident that the star is “lucky to be alive.”
Flintoff has not been on social media since December 10, three days before the crash.
BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the Corporation, has conducted a health and safety review, which has yet to be published. Sources at the organization say it will not.
In a statement, it confirms that a review has been carried out and says it has apologized to Flintoff: ‘BBC Studios has completed its investigation into the accident that sadly injured presenter Freddie Flintoff.
“We have apologized to Freddie and will continue to support him in his recovery.”
Top Gear crashes over the years
Richard Hammond crashes a Vampire Dragster – 2006
Richard had to fight for his life after crashing the jet-powered car while traveling at 450mph while testing the vehicle at the former RAF Elvington air base near York. Hammond was on a seventh and final run in the car when the front right tire flipped and the dragster veered off the runway, rolled over and Hammond suffered a traumatic head injury and was in a coma for two weeks. In the year after the crash, the TV presenter returned to the show and spoke about the crash on The Jonathan Ross Show, but could not remember anything about it due to his injuries.
Shocking: Richard continued to fight for his life after he crashed the Vampire Dragster while traveling at 450km/h while testing the vehicle at the former RAF Elvington airbase
Freddie Flintoff crashes a jet trike – 2019
In September, Freddie revealed that he had a nasty escape during filming after a high-speed crash in a jet trike. The cricketer, 45, insisted he was ‘absolutely fine’ after his jet trike went off the road during a race at Elvington Airfield near York. Freddie reportedly drove his high-speed trike off the road while filming the high-speed race. Crew members rushed to Freddie – who wore a full suit and helmet for the scenes – but he emerged with barely a scratch.
Close call: Last September, Freddie revealed that he had a nasty escape during filming after a high-speed crash in a jet trike
Paddy McGuinness’s rear axle comes from his Pontiac Firebird – 2020
In Top Gear’s latest series, Paddy embarked on the ‘original’ US Road Trip with Freddie and Chris Harris. He arrived in their starting point of Peru in a Pontiac Firebird that had no roof in addition to several other problems. When the trio decided to test their cars on a 1/4 mile straight, Paddy’s car only got a few feet before the rear end of the axle completely came apart and he was forced to abandon the car.
In the latest series of Top Gear, Paddy had to abandon his Pontiac Firebird after the rear of the axle came completely apart (pictured)
Jeremy Clarkson flips his Reliant Robin – 2010
In a now-famous segment of Top Gear, former host Jeremy flipped a Reliant Robin multiple times. The motoring journalist turned it over to prove that the three-wheeled car could easily tip over. In his Sunday Times driving column, Jeremy revealed that he had asked the crew to tinker with the car ‘so that the poor little thing rolled over every time I turned the wheel’.
Flipping heck: In a now famous segment of Top Gear, former host Jeremy Clarkson flipped a Reliant Robin multiple times (pictured)
.