Former Top Gear star Richard Hammond have revealed how he keeps the tattered shirt he was wearing during his near fatal 288mph crash nailed to his wall.
He even has a Lego model of the jet-powered Vampire dragster, which left him in a two-week long coma following the crash in 2006. The 54-year-old said he kept the ripped shirt as a reminder of how ‘lucky’ he was.
The crash took place while Hammond was filming an episode of Top Gear at the former RAF Elvington airbase near York on 20 September 2006.
Read more – Jeremy Clarkson says world is too dangerous to film Grand Tour as show comes to an end
The dragster – capable of 370mph and powered by a turbojet engine – crashed after a front tyre blew as Hammond sped round the track a seventh time.
Hammond suffered serious brain injuries, but recovered enough to go on TV three months after the crash, where he said he was suffering from post-traumatic amnesia and a five-second memory.
(Image: PA)
(Image: PA)
Speaking about the incident, the dad-of-two said: “I’ve got a poster featuring the dragster that I crashed in, and a Lego model of the dragster that Lego gave me.
“I’ve got the original crash helmet I wore. (And) over the table where I build Airfix models, I’ve got the tattered shirt that I was wearing. It’s on a hanger on a nail on the wall. It’s not blood-soaked but it is ripped to bits because the emergency services cut it off me.”
He added: “I look at it sometimes and think ‘Phew, that was lucky’.”
This week Jeremy Clarkson has warned it’s too dangerous to film top notch travel shows these days. The presenter, 64, jetted around the world for decades to film cracking footage for Top Gear and The Grand Tour. But he reckons too many countries are off limits now due to conflicts and terrorism.
He said: “We’ve done everything you can realistically do with a car and the world has shrunk and that’s the tragedy. Years ago, we drove from Iraq into eastern Turkey into Syria, Damascus and Israel. We did the Crimea to Ukraine. You couldn’t do any of that now
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
