Richard Hammond opens up about near-fatal Top Gear crash: how it affected his life

Solihull-born Richard Hammond nearly lost his life in his fourth year as Top Gear presenter alongside Jeremy Clarkson and James May

Hammond, a father-of-two, was filming for a Top Gear segment at the former RAF Elvington air base on 20 September 2006, when he was in a near fatal crash.

He was driving a jet-powered car travelling at 319 mph (513 km/h) when a tyre failed and the car spun out of control. Years after the crash that put him in a coma for two weeks, Hammond still has worries about the lasting effects on his life.

These days Hammond has been presenting the Amazon original series The Grand Tour with Jeremy Clarkson and James May since 2016. He also hosted Richard Hammond’s Crazy Contraptions and Richard Hammond’s Workshop last year.

On Dragon’s Den star Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO podcast, The Grand Tour host, said that he is at an "increased risk" because of the crash.

"I have to consciously write memories down and work hard to recall them sometimes," he told Bartlett. “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."

The presenter has crashed many times on Top Gear and The Grand Tour. But, the crash while driving the jet-powered Vampire dragster gave him a frontal lobe injury. He told the Times: “When I was initially in recovery, because it was a frontal lobe injury, the doctor said one of the problems is what they call ‘lost-keys syndrome’.

“Years later I’d lose my keys and I’d think: it’s because of my brain injury. But, no, I’d just lost my keys. I’m 51. Now, I regularly go into a room and I can’t remember what I went into it for. But I no longer think: oh god, my brain isn’t working.”

How Richard Hammond’s crash affected his wife Mindy

Hammond and his wife Mindy, 57, had been married for four years by 2006 and yet he couldn’t recognise her. Mindy was worried that he won’t be able to walk or talk or care for their daughters, who were six and three years old then.

However, the injury’s impact caused a different problem. He thought he was married to a French woman and not Mindy. Mindy told The Telegraph: "It was disconcerting when, early after the crash, Richard looked at me from his hospital bed and said, ‘You’re lovely, but you’re not my wife’.

"When I corrected him, he responded, ‘No, you’re not my wife, my wife is French’. Indeed, when he was allowed home five weeks later, it became clear that Richard’s memory loss was no short-term affliction."

She added that Hammond was not able to retain any information for more than 10 seconds initially. His personality also changed and he was prone to mood swings and depression. It had gotten to a point where he told her to leave the house with their two daughters.

"Richard turned to me and said, ‘Get the girls and get out of the house now’. I told him to relax, but he said, ‘No, just get out’. He could feel the anger welling up, and was afraid that he might not be able to control himself. It must have been utterly terrifying for him."

The injury affected their marriage and she prepared herself for the worst - that he would no longer want to stay married to her. However, they slowly rekindled their romance and Mindy believes he’s "more patient" and "self-aware" now.