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Freddie Flintoff shows off his fully healed face as he announces his new Disney + documentary.
Named Flintoff, the film will look at the impact of his serious car crash that happened whilst filming BBC motoring show Top Gear in 2022 at its test track at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey.
The cricketing legend, 47, crashed in an open-topped three-wheel 130mph Morgan Super 3 car, which had no air bags.
The crash left him with severe facial injuries and several broken ribs.
Immediately following the accident he was faced with an ‘agonising’ 45-minute wait for the air ambulance to arrive and rush him to hospital, with the BBC later giving the presenter an apology.
Filming on Top Gear was suspended and the future of the show – which he co-hosted alongside comedian Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris – remains in question after it was put on indefinite hiatus last November.
Freddie Flintoff, 47, shows off his fully healed face as he announces his new Disney + documentary
Named Flintoff, the film will look at the impact of his serious car crash that happened whilst filming BBC motoring show Top Gear in 2022 at its test track at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey (pictured 2022)
Freddie remained out of the public eye for months as he recovered from the accident, after his devoted wife Rachael, 42, reportedly ‘begged’ him to stay off work and take time to recover.
His son Corey, 19, told MailOnline following the accident that his father was ‘lucky to be alive’.
Now without a scar in sight, the cricketer appeared fully healed in his latest promotional photos.
As well as the crash, the documentary will look back through Flintoff’s cricketing career which saw him win two Ashes series with England and become captain of the team.
Speaking about the 90-minute film, the 47-year-old said: ‘Cricket’s always been a massive part of my life, shaping who I am.
‘Looking back on the highs and the lows, including the challenges I’ve faced since my accident, has been a real reminder of why my career in the sport has meant so much.’
He returned to TV for his second series of Field of Dreams On Tour during summer last year for series two of his BBC show.
He confessed on the show how much he had struggled since his crash, talking about it for the first time.
The crash left him with severe facial injuries and several broken ribs (pictured tight September 2023)
Immediately following the accident he was faced with an ‘agonising’ 45-minute wait for the air ambulance to arrive and rush him to hospital (Pictured May 2024)
He had been driving in an open-topped three-wheel 130mph Morgan Super 3 car, which had no air bags (pictured)
Filming on Top Gear was suspended and the future of the show – which he co-hosted alongside comedian Paddy McGuinness (centre) and Chris Harris (right)
He said: ‘I struggle with anxiety, I have nightmares, I have flashbacks. It’s been so hard to cope. But I’m thinking if I don’t do something, I’m never going to do nowt. I’ve got to get on with it.’
‘It’s going to be a long road back and I’ve only just started and I am struggling already and I need help. I really am.
‘I’m not the best at asking for it. I need to stop crying every two minutes. I am looking forward to seeing the lads and being around them. I really am.
‘Got to look on the positive: I’m still here. I’ve got another chance and I’ve got a go at it. I am seeing that as how it is – a second go.’
Flintoff, who reportedly reached a £9million settlement with the BBC over the crash which was paid for by the broadcaster’s commercial arm.
The cricket legend admitted the after effects of the crash might follow him ‘for the rest of my life’ and said he believes he ‘genuinely shouldn’t be here’ after he flipped a three-wheeled car at Dunsfold Park Aerodrome while filming for Top Gear.
No photographs of the crash have ever been published, and with Flintoff remaining at home for almost a year after the incident, it was unknown how seriously the presenter had been injured.
But after Flintoff returned to the public eye as he went back to his first passion – cricket – fans were left heartbroken for the star as the extent of his facial injuries were revealed in September 2023.
The cricketer revealed he’d been was left ‘crying every two minutes’ as severe flashbacks from the near-fatal incident haunted his waking and sleeping moments.
He said at the time: ‘Week-and-a-half after my accident. Genuinely, should not be here with what happened.
‘It’s going to be a long road back and I’ve only just started and I am struggling already and I need help. I really am.’
Flintoff, who reportedly reached a £9million settlement with the BBC over the crash which was paid for by the broadcaster’s commercial arm (Stock image)
The cricketer revealed he’d been was left ‘crying every two minutes’ as severe flashbacks from the near-fatal incident haunted his waking and sleeping moments (stock image)
He added: ‘I’m not the best at asking for it. I need to stop crying every two minutes. I am looking forward to seeing the lads and being around them. I really am.’
It is not the first time the cricketing legend has had a brush with death: just months after he joined Top Gear, he had a 125mph smash in 2019. Miraculously, he escaped without injuries.
He has previously also struggled with mental health battles with depression, and has been open about his experiences with bulimia, an eating disorder.
The struggles continued throughout his career and long into retirement, with Flintoff admitting he had made himself sick after eating even in the 12 months leading up to the filming of a documentary about it: Living With Bulimia.
But it is the teenage cricket team he created from his hometown of Preston who give him the motivation to get out into the world again as he continues his recovery from the crash.
Flintoff will premiere exclusively on Disney+ in the UK and Ireland on Friday 25th April.