Hammond from top gear hurt?

[SSS_Hoon]

He crahsed a jet powerd car attempting a land speed record in he UK at 280mph and is in intensive care nurological treatment apparently.

i hope he is ok he is a great presenter and feared nothing.


SSS_Hoon

[PaulyJ]

WHAT?
Where did you hear this from?

[PaulyJ]

Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond was in a critical condition in hospital after he was involved in a high-speed car crash while filming for the programme.

Hammond, 36, was airlifted to Leeds General Infirmary after a "rocket-powered dragster" he was in crashed at Elvington airfield near York.
The editor of Top Gear magazine said he had heard that Hammond may have been travelling at speeds close to 300mph before the crash. Inspector Mike Thompson, of North Yorkshire Police, said: "At 5.45pm (on Wednesday) 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 hospital spokesman said Hammond, who is being treated in a neurological unit, was in a "critical" condition.
Hammond, who often drives high-performance cars as part of presenting Top Gear, was born in Birmingham but lives just outside Cheltenham with his wife and children. He first appeared on British television screens on cable and satellite channels presenting motoring programmes before switching to the BBC's Top Gear in 2002.
A BBC spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that an accident has happened while filming an edition of Top Gear at an airfield near York. The presenter Richard Hammond has been taken to hospital. The incident happened quite recently and the focus of our attention is on Richard at this stage."
Top Gear magazine editor Michael Harvey told BBC News 24: "I know every single precaution will have been taken but something clearly absolutely unaccounted for has gone wrong, and Richard has unfortunately suffered the consequences."
James May, who co-presents the popular motor show with Hammond and Jeremy Clarkson, said he was devastated to learn his "old mate" had been injured. Former Top Gear presenter Quentin Willson said one of Hammond's best qualities was that he has "no fear". He told BBC News 24: "It does sound very serious. It is a huge, huge tragedy. He is a wonderful, unique and distinctive Top Gear presenter."

[EL BURITO]

well thats not cool hope he lives or top gear will never be the same

[Alfonzo]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/5365676.stm


TV host seriously hurt in crash

Top Gear's Richard Hammond is seriously ill in hospital after a crash in a jet-powered car while filming for the BBC programme.


The 36-year-old presenter was taken by air ambulance to Leeds General Infirmary's neurological unit.

A spokesman for the hospital said Mr Hammond was "stable".
Mr Hammond had been driving a dragster-style car capable of reaching 300mph at the former RAF airfield in Elvington, near York.

Former firefighter Dave Ogden, who runs private firm Event Fire Services, was one of the first people at the scene of the crash.


He said: "We were down there with Top Gear who were filming him trying to break the British land speed record.

"On the previous run, the car had just gone over 300mph but I am not sure if it had broken the record.

"They had just done one more run and were planning to finish when it veered off to the right.

"One of the parachutes had deployed but it went on to the grass and spun over and over before coming to a rest about 100 yards from us."

He said his crew and an ambulance that was already on the airfield rushed over and found the car upside down and "dug in" to the grass.

Mr Ogden said he felt for a pulse and heard Mr Hammond breathing before the emergency crews worked together to turn the car the right way up and then cut him free.

He added: "He was regaining consciousness at that point and said he had some lower back pain. But he was drifting in and out of consciousness a little bit."

Former Top Gear presenter Quentin Willson said the presenter was "irreplaceable". He said: "He is a wonderful, unique and distinctive Top Gear presenter.


"He has brought an awful lot to the programme and his indefatigable energy, the fact that he tries absolutely anything once, may have been the reason that he has overstepped the mark a bit.

"He has turned Top Gear into a gang show with Jeremy and James and the three of them have wowed audiences all over the world and he is an international personality."

Mr Wilson added: "There is no pressure from the BBC or the producer to take undue risks.

"But that pressure is in your own head. You want to do an item on the programme which is mindblowing.

"You want to do a fantastic item that blows everybody away."
The presenter, who works on Top Gear with fellow hosts Jeremy Clarkson and James May, was born in Birmingham, educated in Yorkshire and lives near Cheltenham with his wife and children.
In addition to presenting Top Gear for the BBC, he also fronted Brainiac on Sky One until recently.

Doesn't sound as severe as initial reports. Sh!t I hope he makes a full recovery but, TopGear just wouldn't be the same without the Hamster. :(

[Edie]

Poor Hammond. :( I hope he makes a full recovery and is able to return to the show.

...Wasn't Hammond the one who, as mentioned on Monday's Top Gear, had incurred some sort of injury to his hiney? :)

[SSS_Hoon]

no hammond is the short younger one.


that is james may


SSS_Hoon

[Edie]

Bah, I'm bad with names.

Poor Hammond. :(

[oneightoo]

dam sam!

hope the hamster is alright..

[Lt Ketch]

Hope he makes a full recovery, if he doesn't come back we'll have to endure more of that Vauxhal hater Jeremy....aaaarrrggghhh!

[PaulyJ]

I hope his teeth are alrite... LOL

[btm]

hope the poor bugger is ok...

[PaulyJ]

Yeah, on a more serious note than my previous post, I hope that he pulls thru this. He puts so much fun energy into Top Gear, it'd be a shame to not have him in the next season.

[Lt Ketch]

Apparently he is improving!

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=146402

[Edie]

Hope he makes a full recovery, if he doesn't come back we'll have to endure more of that Vauxhal hater Jeremy....aaaarrrggghhh!

Jeremy bagged the Vectra, in the episode before last :(

[PaulyJ]

He should drive Aussies VXR, and then comment on Vauxhalls... LOL

[Lt Ketch]

Jeremy bagged the Vectra, in the episode before last :(

And of course it understeered, an oil tanker would understeer with Chubby Jeremy up the front in the drivers seat upsetting the natural balance of the universe! :rolleyes:


Sorry got of topic there....get well soon hammond!

[dieselhead]

get well soon hamster!

oh, and Jeremy bashed the Vectra but absolutely loves the Astra. not bad for a vauxhall hater, ha? :)

[btm]

"Brain damage for Top Gear star"
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/brain-damage-for-top-gear-star/2006/09/22/1158431867903.html

not looking to good...

[Miyagi]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/22/nhammond122.xml

A more positive article including quotes from James May... let's hope they are on target.

[MatsHolden]

get well soon hamster!

oh, and Jeremy bashed the Vectra but absolutely loves the Astra. not bad for a vauxhall hater, ha? :)

Dunno if you saw the one the other day where he drove the Astra VXR, but he bagged that. Drove it as usual, deliberately making it understeer and look like a dog of a car. And then he had a go at torque steer and demonstrated this by accelerating flat out with no hands on the wheel and watching the wheel turn... of course the wheel was going to turn! What a knob. If he had've done the same thing in the Renault or Volksy, they would've done the same.

Anyway thoughts are with the little feller from top gear!

[dustbug]

His out of bed and on the mend

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=146278

hope it can hop back in the cars one day and officially break that record...

well they'll need a new jet car too

[btm]

that does sound a bit more positive... fingers crossed!

[JP Dyno]

http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17808915%26method=full%26siteid=62484% 26headline=exclusive%2d%2dhi%2ddaddy%2dwe%2dlove%2 dyou%2dso%2dmuch-name_page.html
sounds like he's ok.

clarkson has a good writeup on his experience during the whole incident:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2372412_1,00.html

the show itself however is under alot of scrutiny. but luckily they have a few big names on the side of logic and reason
(from the sounds of it, aswell as their own producer threatening to laeve if they try to tone it down, they also have the top dog from BBC2 and the road safety minister batting for the team)
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1879669,00.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2372255,00.html

[blueraven]

Yeah great news...however they are gonna delay top gear this year until he is back on his feet...which i hope isnt too long.

[JP Dyno]

i dare say if he was able to stand and walk himself to the toilet that early on, then he wont take too long to recover. my bets on a week or so before he is home, maybe 2 or 3 and he is back up and running.

head injuries are a funny thing, they either get you bad and you end up learning to walk again (if you can even do that), or you just sorta return to normal.