Top Gear driver The Stig feared Andrew Flintoff had died in his sickening car crash as his vision went "red with his blood."
Former England cricketer Flintoff, nicknamed Freddie, was left with serious injuries after the Morgan Super 3 flipped at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey in December 2022.
Flintoff, 48, suffered serious facial and rib injuries, needing facial reconstructive surgery. He later received a payout from the BBC, thought to be £9 million, and Top Gear has been paused.
The Stig's account of the crash
Paul Rees, who has been unmasked as The Stig by the Sun, was in the car with the sportsman turned presenter. He said: "My vision went red. I now know that was blood from Fred spraying me in the face."
He added: "I remember thinking that if we can get out of this and be in wheelchairs, we're lucky. Fred was hunched over on top of me, I pulled him back next to me, took one look at him and I thought he was dead."
Dad-of-two Paul, 41, who is suing the BBC, said their lives changed in the instant the car flipped. He thinks there was "no way" anyone could have survived injuries like that.
The Stig reported hearing a "gurgling noise" and likened Flintoff's condition to a "war injury" and "something you see in the movies."
Details of the crash and aftermath
The car, which did not have a roof, flipped on the track before skidding along the tarmac and coming to a stop 50 metres away. Paul was left with a broken back and PTSD from the smash. Despite this he thinks he was lucky to walk away with his life as the only thing protecting his head from the tarmac was Flintoff's head.
Flintoff, who presented the show with Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris, has previously talked about the emotional scar left by the horror crash to go along with the physical aftermath.
Speaking to Piers Morgan last year, he said: "I suffer from PTSD. I have flashbacks and nightmares, but I've probably got more of an acceptance of them now."
In a BBC Plus documentary about the crash, Flintoff admitted he didn't leave the house for six months other than to attend medical appointments. He added: "Initially I did think I was dead, I was just in darkness and I thought 'is this it? Is this how it is when you die?'"
Top Gear shelved indefinitely
Top Gear has been shelved indefinitely by the BBC, and the show's creator Andy Wilman doubts whether it will ever return to TV screens.
Paul Rees is suing the BBC. The Stig is a character created by Wilman and Jeremy Clarkson, a play on the anonymity of racing drivers' full-face helmets. The running joke was that nobody knows who or what is inside the racing suit, but Paul is the fourth Stig to be unmasked. He follows in the footsteps of Perry McCarthy, Ben Collins and Phil Keen.
BBC Studios said: “We dispute this claim and are defending it. As it is before the courts, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
