Hampster (Richard Hammond) in critical condition after crash

[/////AMG]

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 Leeds General Infirmary which has a special neurological unit.

A North Yorkshire Ambulance Service spokesman said he was unconscious when they got to the scene and a hospital spokesman described him as "critical".

The BBC confirmed the presenter had been injured during a Top Gear shoot.

Inspector Mike Thompson, of North Yorkshire Police, said officers were dealing with the incident at Elvington airfield, a former RAF base, in North Yorkshire.

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."

The presenter was born in Birmingham, educated in Yorkshire and lives near Cheltenham.

In addition to presenting Top Gear for the BBC, he also fronted Brainiac on Sky One until recently.

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

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/20092006/344/top-gear-presenter-hurt-accident.html

[Oldskool]

All these TV guys getting injured while filming now:thumbsdow

[teggypimp95]

poor hampster

[Nissanaddict]

:( That's no good. Hope he gets better. Definitely not good...but I guess that can happen in an overtuned jet-powered car.

[syeve]

ohhh man :(

Hope he is OK

[HillBilly]

hope he is OK...

I love the teeth whitening jokes that Clarkson always hits him with.

[joyridder]

:( I hope that he is alright....best of luck to him for sure....

[accord885]

Poor little Hamster... Best of luck to him. He's a big part of the Top Gear crew!

[Pihsiak]

Of all the Top Gear presenters, Hammond has always been my fav. His jokes with Jeremy are halarious.

I just hope he recovers and Top Gear Dog doesn't take his job.

Didn't Jeremy screw up his back 2 years ago because he was pulling too many sideways G?

[accord885]

Ya I remember that... wasn't it in a TVR or something... He still complains about it.

[accord885]

More Info

http://forum.finalgear.com/viewtopic.php?t=13892

[euro_racer]

damn poor hampster, coolest top gear guy of them all....at least he got into this trouble doing what he loved

[Pihsiak]

Originally posted by euro_racer
damn poor hampster, coolest top gear guy of them all....at least he got into this trouble doing what he loved

and he got raped by an old lady in the Camper episode... their kids are gonna be beautiful....

[Zero102]

Wow, you can be certain that clip will never be on the show :(

Such a shame, he was one of my favorite TV show hosts. I hope he's okay!

[Hash_man]

No way... Thats a damn shame. Hope he recovers fully. Like others he was definately my favorite on top gear, he has a great personality and definately adds a lot to the show.

[Akagi Redsuns]

Crappy news.

Heres to a speedy recovery!

[PraviYugosloven]

poor hampster, my fav of the guys at top gear!!!

lets hope for a quick recovery!!!

[HyperZell]

Damnit, I was hoping that this thread would be a joke or something.

After Steve Irwin, we don't need anymore cool TV personalities getting hurt!

EDIT: Here's some info from Gizmodo about the car:

Here's a 300MPH Jet car that weighs 2,200 lbs, is 30 feet long and drinks 7-10 gallons of fuel per mile. The jet-car accelerates from 0 to 272 mph in six seconds and is powered by a Rolls Royce Orpheus jet engine theoretically capable of 370mph. The car holds the "Outright British Land Speed Record" and doesn't like to be told what to do. Top Gear's Richard Hammond is in the hospital after the car ate shit at about 270MPH. Bad jet-car, bad!

www.gizmodo.com

[Pihsiak]

Originally posted by Zero102
Wow, you can be certain that clip will never be on the show :(



I donno... did they ever show the clip of the Black Stig?

[scat19]

I love top gear, I hope for him to have a speedy recovery.

[dj_rice]

Shit...for a min there I thought this was about HAMPSTOR....



Hope he gets better soon

[Nissanaddict]

Originally posted by Pihsiak



I donno... did they ever show the clip of the Black Stig?

When he drove off an aircraft carrier in a Jaguar? That was staged....

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Shit!!! :cry:



Update: Richard has been upgraded to Stable condition and is conscious.

[Nissanaddict]

Good news! Wish him a speedy recovery. Poor short guy.

[turab16]

richy make it happen

[Hash_man]

Update: Richard has been upgraded to Stable condition and is conscious.

Excellent, thanks for the update, I am very happy to hear that.

[gp36912]

Originally posted by Nissanaddict


When he drove off an aircraft carrier in a Jaguar? That was staged....


:D you can see they strapped the car down to the rocket launch units for that one.




poor poor hammond. to a speedy recovery

[A2VR6]

Glad to hear that he's getting better. I kinda doubt we're gonna see him for this upcoming season, I wonder if they're gonna have a fill-in for him.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

It has been confirmed that Richard had suffered a "severe brain injury", but doctors remain confident he will make a full recovery.

[a.z13]

Originally posted by Pihsiak
Of all the Top Gear presenters, Hammond has always been my fav. His jokes with Jeremy are halarious.

I just hope he recovers and Top Gear Dog doesn't take his job.

Didn't Jeremy screw up his back 2 years ago because he was pulling too many sideways G?



Originally posted by accord885
Ya I remember that... wasn't it in a TVR or something... He still complains about it.


Vauxhall Manaro be to exact. :clap:

[rage2]

Originally posted by Zero102
Wow, you can be certain that clip will never be on the show :(
If and when he makes a full recovery, it's a guarantee that it'll be on the show. That's the style of the show.

[nismodrifter]

and they'll crack a joke about it when they do show it.

"yes yes, thats me...ouch"

[accord885]

Originally posted by a.z13






Vauxhall Manaro be to exact. :clap:

Right... good call!

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Originally posted by rage2

If and when he makes a full recovery, it's a guarantee that it'll be on the show. That's the style of the show.

Yep, I think it'll be shown as well. Richard can finally say he's done something that Jeremy and James have no hope of duplicating.

On a different note, it was originally James who was slated to drive the Vampire.

[a.z13]

lol i can't imagine capatin slow going that fast.

[Khyron]

Originally posted by BerserkerCatSplat
It has been confirmed that Richard had suffered a "severe brain injury", but doctors remain confident he will make a full recovery.

They have specifically not said "full recovery". At best, it will be a "good recovery" which in doctor-speak can mean you wear diapers and eat from a straw. But Clarkson said Hamster smiled when he made a crack about how poor his driving was, so hopefully he'll be ok.

Khyron

[Zero102]

a.z13, wasn't James May captain slow?....
Top gear won't be the same without all of the teeth whitening jokes....
I hope he comes back :(

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Originally posted by Khyron


They have specifically not said "full recovery". At best, it will be a "good recovery" which in doctor-speak can mean you wear diapers and eat from a straw. But Clarkson said Hamster smiled when he made a crack about how poor his driving was, so hopefully he'll be ok.

Khyron

Clarkson visited Richard some time before James did, and when James visited him he was sitting up and talking. There seems to be some discrepancy between The BBC and The Sun on what ther doctors' opinions are.

[HyperZell]

Originally posted by Zero102
a.z13, wasn't James May captain slow?....
Top gear won't be the same without all of the teeth whitening jokes....
I hope he comes back :(

az13 was referring to BerserkerCatSplat's post previous to his, in which he said "On a different note, it was originally James who was slated to drive the Vampire."

[KuruptEX]

man o man hope hes is alrite

[Khyron]

Originally posted by BerserkerCatSplat
Clarkson visited Richard some time before James did, and when James visited him he was sitting up and talking. There seems to be some discrepancy between The BBC and The Sun on what ther doctors' opinions are.

Yah, Clarkson said he just had a black eye and nothing worse, while James was saying they were worried Richard would lose the eye, and looked thoroughly beat to shit. Hopefully he comes out fine.

Khyron

[Zero102]

Originally posted by HyperZell


az13 was referring to BerserkerCatSplat's post previous to his, in which he said "On a different note, it was originally James who was slated to drive the Vampire."

Okay, I'm dumb. :angel:

[liquidboi69]

I'm suprized the Top Gear team/BBC didn't make the stig do this type of stunt. Normally crazy stuff like this is reserved for a pro driver like him.

I also hope the BBC doesn't make Top Gear tone down their crazzay stunts. And of course, I hope Richard comes out of it alright.

[Pihsiak]

A paper in Britian did a graphical mock up of the crash and there are some grainy videos on you tube

http://images.thetimes.co.uk/TGD/picture/0,,343705,00.jpg

Y8t20yGXjI0

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Richard is now up and about, as well as chatting with Jeremy and calling James a "cockface."

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006440317,00.html

[Khyron]

Fantastic:


He didn’t look very “rallied” to me. In fact, he looked like a Klingon, with a massively swollen eye and a huge lump on his forehead. The only good news, so far as I could see, was that his teeth were still as shiny and bright as ever.


But last few paragraphs are truth:



You’d think that the joyous news would silence the vultures circling the crash site since the accident, rejoicing in the fact that Top Gear had finally been taught its lesson that speed kills.

Somehow I doubt it though. The campaign to have us taken off the air — sparked curiously, by the BBC’s own news website — will now be ramped up, fuelled by the environmentalists and spearheaded by muddle-headed road safety campaigners.

Richard is winning his fight. And now mine begins. To make sure that he has a show to come back to.


Khyron

[Benny]

Originally posted by Pihsiak
http://www.finalgear.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/hammondcrash.jpg



That'll buff out... :eek:

[Nissanaddict]

So apparently I heard that the next series is delayed. Which likely means that Hammond should have a good recovery. Did anybody read about how £134 000 were donated to the air ambulance company that transported him? :thumbsup: to all who donated.

[Xtrema]

If anyone watch BBC world when this went down, you can get a sense that the news folks keep bashing on the safety of the show.

[/////AMG]

Yea they kept bitching.

then the fans raised enough money to buy the hospital ANOTHER helicopter!!:thumbsup:

[BerserkerCatSplat]

The series is currently marked as Delayed, but Richard is trying to make it go ahead on schedule - he's even suggested filming the studio segment in the hospital, along with the footage of the crash.

[habsfan]

here's a link for beserkers above statement
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=407022&in_page_id=1773

[Billy]

That's one of my favourite shows of all time, I hope he'll get better soon so he can keep up the series.

[DonJuan]

I love Top gear, and I'm glad the Hammond is making a full recovery. And without him I don't think Top Gear would have the same chemistry. But one question though, who is the Stig? I always thought that the original black stig was Richard Burns (Rally driver) as he died around the same season as the black stig was replaced and Clarkson always said he he was not an F1 driver. Also I had a feeling that it could have been Hammond since he was always road testing the really mad cars like the SLR etc, and he has a racing liscense. IDEAS?

[teggypimp95]

I know who the stig is.......

[DonJuan]

never mind after a little googoling I found Perry MaCarthy was the original Stig. And the new Stig is probably Damon Hill. But is most likely a variety of drivers.

[teggypimp95]

Nope both wrong^

[DonJuan]

^ what? who then?

[teggypimp95]

His is the Formula F1 and British Touring car championship Driver Jullian Bailey.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Originally posted by teggypimp95
His is the Formula F1 and British Touring car championship Driver Jullian Bailey.

Really? Got any proof?