{"id":312094,"date":"2025-08-02T14:10:31","date_gmt":"2025-08-02T14:10:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/312094\/"},"modified":"2025-08-02T14:10:31","modified_gmt":"2025-08-02T14:10:31","slug":"ill-be-eternally-grateful-to-nhs-superheroes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/312094\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019ll be eternally grateful to NHS superheroes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andrew \u201cFreddie\u201d Flintoff has thanked for their \u201clove and compassion\u201d the NHS staff who helped him recover from the car crash he had while filming the Top Gear television show.<\/p>\n

The former England cricketer and TV host, who suffered facial injuries in the 2022 accident, said he would be \u201ceternally grateful\u201d to staff at St George\u2019s Hospital in Tooting, southwest London, to where he was airlifted.<\/p>\n

Flintoff visited the hospital, which has a major trauma centre, to thank those who nursed him back to health<\/a>. He said: \u201cI just want to say a massive thank you to all the staff at St George\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came here probably the lowest I\u2019ve ever been, in need of help. And the expertise, the love, the compassion they showed me was incredible. I\u2019ll be eternally grateful \u2014 absolute superheroes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 Freddie Flintoff: I have found comfort in the dressing room again<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Flintoff\u2019s surgeon said the former all-rounder\u2019s case was one of the most complex he had ever seen.<\/p>\n

Jahrad Haq, a consultant surgeon who deals with the face, jaw, mouth and neck, said he remembered receiving the call from the emergency department.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of injuries are managed at a more junior level before escalating,\u201d he said. \u201cI knew this was serious. Of all the trauma cases I\u2019ve seen in over 20 years, this was among the most complex.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Freddie<\/p>\n

Flintoff with Jahrad Haq<\/p>\n

ST GEORGE\u2019S UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST\/PA<\/p>\n

Flintoff crashed while driving an open-top Morgan Super 3 that flipped and dragged him about 50m along the track at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey on December 13, 2022.<\/p>\n

He suffered broken teeth, lost teeth and parts of his upper jaw bone were fractured and displaced.<\/p>\n

Shamim Umarji, a consultant trauma and orthopaedic surgeon, said Flintoff\u2019s visit gave staff a \u201creal boost\u201d. She added: \u201cHe spent a lot of time chatting to everyone and it meant a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Still<\/p>\n

The aftermath of the crash<\/p>\n

DISNEY+<\/p>\n

Kate Slemeck, managing director of St George\u2019s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said she was \u201cincredibly\u201d proud of the care provided at the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always heart-warming to hear from patients about the expert care, compassion and kindness they\u2019ve received from our clinical and support teams,\u201d she added. \u201cThis shows the lasting impact they have on people long after they\u2019ve left hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flintoff\u2019s facial injuries were so severe that he did not leave his house for six months. He has said that the \u00adaccident \u2014 in which he feared he was going to die \u2014 \u201cchanged his life\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Close-up<\/p>\n

Flintoff has opened up about the life-changing facial injuries<\/p>\n

TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER MARC ASPLAND<\/p>\n

It was thought at first that he might never be able to work again. He returned to screens last year, however, to record the second series of Freddie Flintoff\u2019s Field of Dreams in which he teaches teenagers from his home town<\/a> of Preston, Lancashire, how to play cricket and takes them to India.<\/p>\n

The BBC took Top Gear off screens after Flintoff\u2019s crash. He reached a settlement, rumoured to be worth as much as \u00a39 million. His recovery was chronicled in a documentary on Disney+.<\/p>\n

He is also coaching the England Lions cricketers, the development side below the national team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andrew \u201cFreddie\u201d Flintoff has thanked for their \u201clove and compassion\u201d the NHS staff who helped him recover from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312095,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4316],"tags":[105,4348,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-312094","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114959576473392753","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312094\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}