Top Gear #22: Richard Hammond is critically injured in crash

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Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond is critically injured in a crash while testing a car for the BBC television programme.

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Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond is in a critical condition in hospital after a crash in a jet-powered car while filming for the programme.
The presenter, 36, was taken by air ambulance to a Leeds hospital which has a special neurological unit.

A North Yorkshire Ambulance Service spokesman said he was unconscious when they got to the scene but was regaining consciousness at the hospital.

A BBC spokesman confirmed the presenter had been injured during a shoot.

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Top Gear Man In Crash
Updated: 21:00, Wednesday September 20, 2006

Richard Hammond, one of the presenters of TV's Top Gear programme, is reportedly in critical condition following a car crash.

Mr Hammond was hurt while filming an edition of the show and taken to Leeds General Infirmary.

He was reportedly trying to set a new land speed record for England in a jet-powered Vampire car when it overturned.

Mr Hammond was said to have been reaching speeds of up to 280mph as the accident happened.

Firefighter Dave Ogden, who witnessed the crash, told Sky News that the 36-year-old presenter was able to speak as he was taken out of the wreckage of the car.

Inspector Mike Thompson, of North Yorkshire Police, said officers were dealing with the incident at the airfield northeast of York where the filming was taking place.

He said: "At 5.45pm this evening we received a report via the fire service of a male person trapped in what was described as an overturned jet car which had been driven on the airfield.

"The male occupant has received serious injuries and has been airlifted to hospital at Leeds."

A spokeswoman for the BBC, which produces Top Gear, said: "The incident happened quite recently and the focus of our attention is on Richard at this stage."

Mr Hammond, who lives near Cheltenham with his wife Amanda and their two daughters, has also presented Sky's Brainiac and shows including Time Commanders and Petrolheads.

More follows ...

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He was piloting a rocket powered dragster capable of travelling at 300mph in an attempt to break the UK land speed record. He is being treated at the specialist neurological hospital Leeds General Infirmary and is currently in a critical condition. [2] BBC reports suggest that he was air-lifted from the crash scene unconscious. The ambulance service is reported to have said Hammond began to regain conciousness upon arrival at the hospital. This has conflicted with witness statements given to the BBC from Top Gear production crew, which stated that Hammond walked away from the crash and was helped into an awaiting helicopter. [citation needed] North Yorkshire Police have said that they "received a report via the fire service of a male person trapped in an overturned jet car which had been driven on the airfield." [3]. This again contradicts the reports that he walked away from the crash.