Oh no no no no no

[mandragora]

The news about Richard Hammond is distressing me hugely. I love cars, you see, the sleeker and faster the better. I love speed (in safe conditions - I'm not an idiot and do actually care about other road users and pedestrians). Unsurprisingly, I'm an avid fan of Top Gear, which has the accolade of being the most downloaded TV programme round the world and is massively popular. If you like cars, chances are you'll like Top Gear. Well, so long as you find the laddishness amusing. Mostly, I do.

So the news that Richard Hammond has crashed whilst filming for the programme and is critically injured is-- God, I'm all choked up. He's my favourite of the presenters (yes, yes, because I'm shallow) and I just really, really hope he'll be okay.

Comments

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

Eeep!

Hoping he's okay too.

[keletkezes.livejournal.com]

Just saw it on BBC news: I'm hoping he's going to be fine too :(

[jacquez.livejournal.com]

nlanza and I have been alternating between making up "tasteless jokes Jeremy will say about this when Richard recovers" and going "God, I hope he's all right."

:(

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. I admit that I'd never heard of him before this post, but that's still terrible.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

He has apparently improved a bit over night, but his family doesn't want more information released. I can understand that, particularly as it's very early days as yet.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

I know, it's really upsetting and horrible.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's a good reaction, I think. Let's all hope for a full recovery and lots of jokes.

He's now stable, apparently, but that could mean anything and I suspect we won't know the long term prognosis for a while.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

It is indeed terrible, and it's the lead story on the BBC news website this morning, which should give you an idea of how well-loved he is in the UK.

Around the world Top Gear has a massive viewing audience of 350 million. Which is mindboggling for a programme that's shown on BBC2. Oh, and it's won all sorts of awards, including a couple of Emmys.

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

350 million is a lot of people. After I read your post I went and looked on the BBC website. It sounds like it was a dangerous thing he was filming, but not *notably* dangerous. I mean, it sounds like they had all the right safety personnel there and everything. And if this is the first accident associated with the show, I'm guessing they're pretty careful about that kind of thing. Which almost makes it worse, in a way. I mean, if the jet-powered car crashes because of poor maintenance or poor safety procedures, at least there's a reason. If it just crashes inexplicably, well, that just seems so random. Which is stupid, because random or as the result of someone's carelessness, the person's still horribly injured. But we see these daredevil stunts on TV and in the movies all the time, and they always seem to go well, so it's a bit of a shock when they suddenly don't.

At least 'serious but stable' is better than 'critical'. That's what the most recent article I read said. When they say critical, that often means the person might die. I feel bad for the wife and kids. I mean, okay, he does this for a living, so okay, his statistical chances of getting hurt in a car crash are higher than the average joe's, but it's not like you can prepare for something like that. Not really.

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

Totally with you in everything you say. Devastated.

[toscas-kiss.livejournal.com]

Awful news. He's my favorite too. :-(

[jacquez.livejournal.com]

Yeah. :( One news story I saw specifically said "serious head injuries", which is really worrying. On the other hand, who knows how accurate that is?

GAH.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Latest just a couple of minutes ago from the Beeb (who own Top Gear) is that he has 'significant head injuries' but the doctors are 'reasonably confident' that he will 'make a good recovery'.

So it's not all bad, but although he's not likely to die, thank God, he might end up with epilepsy (that's common with serious head injuries), which would probably mean no driving.

Which would probably break his heart.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Yes. Latest is reasonably hopeful, but epilepsy must be a significant risk.

I really hope not, for someone who loves cars that much is would be incredibly upsetting.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Yes, he's so likeable and cute and enthusiastic.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean re the daredevil stunts. The BBC is usually pretty safety conscious, at least since a member of the public was killed performing a stunt for the leading Saturday night entertainment of the day.

It sounds as though something went wrong when the parachute opened. We may never know what, as it may depend on whether Richard retains any memory of the accident - I can't remember the skiing accident in which I was knocked unconscious.

Latest news is better, thankfully. He's got 'significant head injuries' but the doctors are 'reasonably confident' that he will 'make a good recovery'. He's the lead story on the BBC News at Six this evening BTW.