Cliff Notes – Freddie Flintoff fans in tears as ‘heartbreaking’ documentary reveals bloody injuries for first time
- Freddie Flintoff has shared graphic images of his life-changing injuries sustained in a near-fatal crash while filming for Top Gear, highlighting the physical and mental scars he continues to endure.
- In his new Disney+ documentary, Flintoff discusses the profound impact of the accident on his family, his ongoing struggles with PTSD and anxiety, and his journey towards recovery.
- Viewers have praised Flintoff for his bravery in revealing his injuries and personal experiences, with many expressing deep emotional responses to his story on social media.
Freddie Flintoff fans in tears as ‘heartbreaking’ documentary reveals bloody injuries for first time
Freddie Flintoff has been hailed an inspiration for bravely sharing his horror injuries for the first time in graphic images.
In December 2022, the pro cricket player was left with life-changing injuries and scars after a near-fatal crash while filming on a Top Gear test track.
He was airlifted to hospital and said to be ‘lucky to be alive’.
In a new Disney+ documentary, Freddie, 47, is now opening up about the accident and his recovery, the mental and physical scars he continues to suffer from including anxiety, flashbacks and nightmares, and the impact the crash had on his family.
Freddie had been driving an open-top vehicle at the Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey when it flipped and he was dragged for 50 metres underneath the car face down on the track.
He underwent an initial five-hour surgery after he suffered from injuries involving hard tissue and soft tissue, broken and lost teeth, and elements of his upper jaw bone being fractured and displaced.
Freddie ‘lucky to be alive’
In the documentary, the dad-of-four reveals that he remembers the accident in ‘vivid’ detail, adding: ‘I’m not saying embrace them, but I’m not trying to hide my scars.
‘It’s almost like a reset, I’m trying to find out what I am now.
‘I’ve always seemed to be able to flick a switch, I’ve got to find that switch again.’
He also shares images of his injuries for the first time, which appear to be taken after he was rushed to hospital and show the impact of the accident on his face.
They show him with stitches and lacerations all down his face, swollen eyes and lips, his mouth and jaw wedged open as he awaited facial reconstruction.
‘There are moments when I forget and I’m just living. It’s so nice. And then you just get a stark reminder.
‘I get a feeling over my face because it’s all tight, and it’s different. I’ve got no teeth, so something will fall out my mouth as I am eating. Or I look in a mirror and it all comes back,’ he says, according to MailOnline.
‘You know, you say that your face is your identity. How many times do we hear that? People saying it’s what’s inside that counts, it’s not how you look. B*****ks!’
Viewers have praised Freddie for bravely opening up and baring all in the documentary, with many left in tears over his story.
‘Flintoff’s documentary is breaking my heart. Adore the man,’ X user Jade wrote, with Laura echoing: ‘Ooft that Flintoff documentary is heartbreaking.’
Freddie stayed out of the spotlight for months
Brendon said: ‘Just watched the #flintoff documentary and I’ve never felt so [many] different emotions watching a TV show. What happened to him was horrific but what a man a true inspiration to many and a lovely fella. Good on you Freddie #ashes#freddie#legend.’
Chris added: ‘Just watched the #Flintoff documentary, and i never thought i could love Freddie more, but what a guy! So honest and so down to earth now. Legend.’
Chloe also wrote: ‘I just finished watching #Flintoff and god I cried so much, I’m so proud of you @flintoff11, a man I’ve looked up to for many years. I’m so happy to see you smile and laugh again.’
In August last year, an at-home video was released showing Freddie with stitches on his face shortly after the crash, with injuries visible from his head down his nose and on his chin.
In the clip, he said: ‘I genuinely should not be here after what happened. It’s going to be a long road back and I’ve only just started. I’ve got to look on the positive side – I’m still here; I’ve got another chance. I’ve got to go at it.’
Speaking in the new Disney+ documentary, Freddie admits that a part of him wished he had died after the crash.
At one stage, he says: ‘After the accident I didn’t think I had it in me to get through. This sounds awful… part of me wishes I’d been killed. Part of me thinks, I wish I’d died.
‘I didn’t want to kill myself… I wouldn’t mistake the two things.
‘I was not wishing, I was just thinking, “this would have been so much easier”.
‘Now I try to take the attitude that the sun will come up tomorrow and my kids will still give me a hug. I’m probably in a better place now.’
Reflecting on his recovery, the former England cricket captain says his then three-and-a-half-year-old son Preston ‘wouldn’t come near me’.
Where to watch Freddie Flintoff’s ‘unmissable’ documentary
Freddie Flintoff’s new documentary on Disney+, titled ‘Flintoff’, explores his terrifying Top Gear crash in 2022 and his subsequent recovery.
The film provides an intimate look at his physical and emotional journey, featuring personal insights, interviews with family and friends, and footage from the accident.
Premiering on April 25 2025, this documentary reveals how Flintoff navigated life-changing injuries and his path to reinvention.
‘I think it frightened him, my face, it frightened me. That was heartbreaking,’ he says in the film.
‘I’ve got PTSD and I get anxious, for periods of time, I just find myself crying for no particular reason.’
Freddie also said that he relives the crash every night when he goes to bed and described the experience as a ‘vivid’ movie.
‘Even the memories of it are real, to the point where now I’m talking about it and I’m getting a bit jittery and I can feel the pain on the side of my face,’ he says.
‘I can feel like a phantom pain. It’s like a bit of a curse, really.’
Recalling the accident, he elsewhere says: ‘I thought I was dead because I was conscious but I couldn’t see anything.
‘I was thinking, “Is that it?”.’
He adds: ‘My biggest fear was, I didn’t think I had a face. I thought my face had come off. I was frightened to death.’
Flintoff premieres exclusively on Disney+ in the UK and Ireland from today, Friday, April 25.