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.

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TV presenter suffers brain injury

Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond has suffered a "significant brain injury" after crashing a jet-powered car at speeds of up to 300mph during filming.
Doctors at Leeds General Infirmary said they were "reasonably optimistic" the 36-year-old would make a good recovery.

The BBC, which is likely to face close scrutiny, has begun an inquiry. The police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are also investigating.

Event organisers insisted that proper safety precautions were taken.

Hammond's father, Alan, was reported to be looking after the presenter's two daughters. He told the London Evening Standard newspaper he was "just hoping Richard pulls through".

"At the moment we are not sure if he is going to live or die. His children are very confused," he said.


Hammond's wife Mindy was at his bedside in the Leeds hospital and he was also visited by Top Gear co-hosts Jeremy Clarkson and James May.

Referring to Hammond by his nickname, Clarkson said in statement: "Both James and I are looking forward to getting our 'hamster' back."

The presenter had been driving a jet-powered dragster similar to the Vampire - used by Colin Fallows to set the British land speed record of 300.3mph.

Primetime Land Speed Engineering, which is jointly run by Fallows, organised the event.

A spokesman for the firm said the vehicle Hammond was driving "had been prepared and was being operated to the highest of standards".

Keith King, an inspector for the HSE, said it was a "very unusual case", adding that the executive would look at the preparation and planning of the event and contingencies for an emergency.

Meanwhile, Supt Martin Deacon of North Yorkshire police, said his officers would initially focus on the road and the vehicle.

On Thursday afternoon, the dragster was lifted on to the back of a lorry and taken away for forensic examination at an undisclosed location.

'Speed obsession'

The BBC said in a statement that it had begun an investigation into the accident and promised full co-operation with the HSE.


"We continue to be concerned about [Hammond's] condition and we are keeping in touch with his family," the statement said.

Top Gear has courted controversy in the past over its big-budget car stunts, and in 1999 a group of MPs criticised the series for being "obsessed with acceleration and speed".

Last year, lobby group Transport 2000 called for the show to be taken off the air accusing it of "glamorising speed and failing to make the connection with danger on the roads".

At the time, Hammond defended the programme, saying: "Top Gear is an entertaining show, for people that are interested in cars, that is driven by people who have been motoring journalists for many, many years."


Hammond had to be cut free from the car on Wednesday evening after eyewitnesses at the Elvington airfield near York described how he "veered off to the right" and the car's parachutes were deployed.

A website set up for well-wishers to make donations to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, which airlifted Hammond to hospital, has so far raised more than £4,000.