Andrew Flintoff has opened up like never before about the devastating car crash that nearly cost him his life, admitting that in his darkest moments he thought, “I wish I’d died.”
The former England cricket legend was seriously injured while filming Top Gear back in 2022. The crash left him with major facial injuries and emotional scars that still linger. He’s now telling his story in a brutally honest Disney+ documentary titled Flintoff, which hits the platform this Friday.
The documentary doesn’t hold back. It includes some graphic images from the scene and shocking shots of his injuries. But the most powerful moments come from Flintoff himself, as he lays bare the emotional impact the accident had on him.
“After the accident I didn’t think I had it in me to get through. This sounds awful… part of me wishes I’d been killed. Part of me thinks, I wish I’d died,” he says, speaking with heartbreaking honesty.
“I didn’t want to kill myself… I wouldn’t mistake the two things. I was not wishing, I was just thinking, ‘this would have been so much easier’. Now I try to take the attitude that the sun will come up tomorrow and my kids will still give me a hug. I’m probably in a better place now.”
Flintoff is slowly finding his way back. The film closes with him returning to cricket, coaching England Lions and the Northern Superchargers, and even stepping back into the spotlight with a revamped version of Bullseye. He admits he’s still processing it all and lives with flashbacks, but he’s clinging to a new outlook.
“I don’t think I’m ever going to be better… just different now. I’m getting there slowly,” he says.
His wife Rachael also appears in the film, summing it all up with the belief that cricket gave him a lifeline. “I do think cricket saved him. It gave him a reason for being again,” she shares.
Directed by John Dower, the documentary also features appearances from familiar faces, including Michael Vaughan, Steve Harmison, Rob Key, James Corden, and Jack Whitehall. His surgeon, Jahrad Haq, doesn’t sugarcoat the severity either, calling Flintoff’s injuries among the worst he’s seen in two decades, describing the reconstruction process like putting together a jigsaw with missing pieces.
Flintoff also recalls the moment of the crash in chilling detail. “I remember my head got hit, I got dragged out. I went over the back of the car and it pulled my face down on the runway, about 50 metres, underneath the car. My biggest fear was, I didn’t think I had a face. I thought my face had come off. I was frightened to death.”
Following the accident, the BBC decided to “rest” Top Gear indefinitely and settled financially with Flintoff for a reported £9 million.
Now 47, Flintoff doesn’t hide his frustration with the entertainment world, likening it to the toll of professional sport. “Everybody wants more. Everybody want to dig that bit deeper,” he says. “All the injuries, all the injections, all the times I got sent out on a cricket field and treated like a piece of meat. That’s TV and sport. It’s quite similar, you’re just a commodity. You’re a piece of meat.”
Flintoff starts streaming exclusively on Disney+ from Friday 25th April.
Don’t Miss These:
- Shark Horror at Israeli Beach as Human Remains Found After Diver Viciously Attacked
- Queen Camilla ‘boiling with rage’ over thoughts of Harry’s return to the royal family
- Keir Starmer Unveils Bold Plan to Supercharge Jobs for Welders and Electricians
- Rachel Reeves Exposed in £20B Blunder Bombshell That Stuns Westminster
- Richard Madeley’s Age Reveal Stuns Susanna and Lorraine While Kate Garraway Sparks Celebrity Traitors Buzz
