Adam Johnson was hit by a car travelling at 55mph (Picture: Channel 4)
The Great Pottery Throw Down star Adam Johnson has spoken about a horrific car accident which changed the course of his life.
In 2007, Adam had just finished a degree and like many graduates, he was excited at the prospect of starting his career and wanted to pursue glass-blowing.
On the night in question, Adam, now 39, and his then-boyfriend were out in town when they ended up in an argument and broke up in the street.
Later, as he crossed the road to go home, he was hit by a car driving at 55mph.
‘I was just like a sack of jelly in the air,’ he recalled to The Guardian.
At the time, Adam was wearing motorcycling gear and the doctors credited it for his survival. All of his body not covered in leather or denim was ‘totally annihilated,’ he said.
Adam reached the final of The Great Pottery Throw Down (Picture: Channel 4)
He broke both his legs, his nose, front teeth, and was placed into a coma to help his recovery and has amnesia so doesn’t remember the accident, or his life before it fully.
‘Your body goes into a completely different mode, like standby on a computer, where you don’t really even comprehend hunger, or anything other than recovery … I was just very aware that my brain wasn’t right,’ he explained.
There was a chance Adam may not survive, but after 21 days in hospital, he was sent home to recover.
It’s been a long process, and something Adam is still dealing with today but he calls the incident ‘the best-worst thing that’s ever happened to me’.
When Adam couldn’t get out of bed, he found creating artwork with clay became a ‘release’.
He reached the final of The Great Pottery Throw Down in 2021 – the reality TV series which began in 2015 on the BBC and has since moved to Channel 4, pits amateur potters against each other to create the best designs.
Adam now lives with husband Dan (Picture: Instagram/Adam Ceramic)
Adam, who now lives in Brighton with his graphic designer husband Dan, is determined to make the best of his life: ‘I do as much as I can, and jump all in, because I want to create memories and a good photo album to look back at. I want to tick off every single thing.’
Taking to Instagram, Adam told his 100k followers that in November he was still ‘completely reliant on crutches and painkillers’.
‘My legs are doing a bit better now but I’m taking things slowly as losing my mobility at the end of last year again was scary. Everyone experiences hurdles in life that we try to slowly overcome, these help shape who we are,’ he shared in the recent health update.
The Great Pottery Throw Down is available to watch on Channel 4.
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Adam describes it as ‘the best-worst thing that’s ever happened to me’.