Thursday, 18 January 2007

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Richard Hammond's crash will be screened

Top Gear will show footage of Hamster's smash

Footage of Richard Hammond's life-threatening smash will be shown on TV.

The dramatic 300mph crash in September, which was caused by a tyre blow out, left Richard with brain injuries and a 50/50 chance of survival.

But the presenter, 36, miraculously made a full recovery and will be back on screens in the new series of Top Gear which starts at the end of the month.

Doctors were concerned about how the star would react when he first viewed the footage.

'In the end I saw it almost by accident,' Richard tells Top Gear magazine.

'I didn't have a terrible reaction to seeing it. I didn't break down or faint either but it was very very strange.

'After all, if it didn't kill me at the time, it was hardly going to kill me just watching it. But to see the car, to see the track and to see details like the crash helmet that saved my life and the harnesses that stopped me being smashed into pieces took my breath away.'

Richard's footage will be shown on Top Gear on BBC2 at 8pm on 28 January.