Freddie Flintoff 'didn't know if he wanted to carry on' after Top Gear accident
Freddie Flintoff admits that he took time to overcome his Top Gear crash.
Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff didn't know if he wanted to "carry on" after his Top Gear crash.
The 47-year-old star sustained serious injuries while shooting an episode of Top Gear in late 2022, and Freddie admits that he struggled to overcome the experience.
Speaking on Freddie Flintoff’s Field Of Dreams: Ultimate Test, he shared: "It was, what – 18 months ago? And you know, I’ve suffered with things like depression in the past before, but this time was different. I didn’t know if I had it in me to carry on, not that I wanted to die or anything like that, I just didn’t know if I had it in me, and that took a while.
"The one thing, I think, getting quite deep here, but the one thing you just want to be is happy in yourself, and try and be accepting of yourself of what you are. It took me a long time to be like that, and then the crash put me back again, and now it’s like finding myself or finding the person I want to be."
Freddie returned to the world of professional cricket after the Top Gear crash, and he previously admitted that the sport has "saved" him.
The former all-rounder - who suffered facial and rib injuries in the crash - is loving the challenge of coaching the next generation of England players.
Speaking to Martin Bayfield at a question-and-answer session, Freddie shared: "The common theme through my life is obviously my family - parents, brother, grandparents, [his wife] Rachael, the kids - but then it seems almost everything comes back to cricket.
"That's been the one constant thread through my life. It's probably the one thing, like Rachel again said, probably saved me. I've been welcomed back into that fold and I'm loving it. I've got the opportunity now to coach.
"Who would have thought a 31-year-old me would be put in charge of kids, the next-best England players? And I absolutely love it."
Freddie's return to sport has helped him to cope with the devastating impact of the crash.
He said: "For everything that's happened, I think sport has been the one thing that's given me the coping mechanisms to get through pretty much anything, because some of the lows in cricket were so low, and you have to come back. It was resilience, it was passion, surrounded by people you love and people you trust."
