When Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff, the former England cricket star and beloved BBC presenter, climbed behind the wheel at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey in December 2022, he could hardly have imagined how profoundly his life—and the lives of many others—would be changed by what happened next. During filming for an episode of Top Gear, Flintoff was involved in a devastating accident that left him with severe injuries, particularly to his face and ribs, and thrust him into a harrowing ordeal that would test his resilience and ultimately inspire a nationwide campaign for better emergency care.
As reported by the BBC and other outlets, Flintoff was driving an open-topped Morgan Super 3 when the car flipped, dragging him face down underneath it for about 50 meters. In the moments after the crash, Flintoff later recalled in a Disney+ documentary titled Flintoff, "I remember everything about it. I was conscious but I couldn’t see anything. I thought I was dead." He described using the split-second decision-making skills honed during his cricket career to minimize the risk of fatal injury: "As it started going over, I looked at the ground and I knew, if I get hit here on the side [of the head] then I'll break my neck, or if I get hit on the temple I'm dead. The best chance is to go face down."
For between 30 and 40 agonizing minutes, Flintoff lay trapped and in pain, awaiting rescue. The arrival of the air ambulance was, in his words, a "vital step in giving me a second chance as I had immediate access to the specialist care which helped save my life." The helicopter landed on the roof of St George’s Hospital in Tooting—a major trauma center equipped with a helipad funded by the Helicopter Emergency Landing Pads (Help) Appeal, a charity dedicated to improving rapid access to emergency care across the UK.
Flintoff’s gratitude for the NHS staff who cared for him is palpable. He recently visited the team at St George’s Hospital, describing them as "superheroes" and reflecting on the aftermath of his accident as "the lowest I’ve ever been." He praised the "expertise, love and compassion" shown by the staff during his darkest hours, underscoring the critical role that immediate, specialized trauma care played in his recovery.
But Flintoff’s story is more than a tale of personal survival—it’s become a rallying cry for better emergency infrastructure. Now 47, he has thrown his support behind the Help Appeal, which has already funded 32 NHS hospital helipads and aims to reach 40 new and upgraded sites. Flintoff’s message to the public and policymakers is both simple and powerful: "When I was airlifted, that helipad wasn’t just a safe spot to land on the hospital roof, it was a vital step in giving me a second chance as I had immediate access to the specialist care which helped save my life. As every cricket pitch has a wicket, every hospital that needs one should have a helipad."
The stakes behind Flintoff’s advocacy are starkly illustrated by the facts. According to Professor Sir Keith Porter, Emeritus Professor of Clinical Traumatology at the University of Birmingham and a leading expert in the field, "Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) have the ability to deliver Critical Care Teams at or close to the side of a patient and then to transport them to the most appropriate hospital for their clinical needs, in the case of injury, usually a Major Trauma Centre. Any secondary land ambulance transfer, because of off-site landing sites, delays immediate access to hospital services which includes CT scanning and lifesaving surgery. Minutes count particularly for patients with life threatening bleeding where the extra journey time can make the difference between life and death."
Professor Porter continued, "The Help Appeal, by funding on-site helipads, helps facilitate the prompt delivery of patients directly into the Emergency Department with a trolley-push from the landing site. The charity plays a crucial part in the often quoted mantra ‘Right patient to the right hospital by the right means (of transport) in the right time.’"
Robert Bertram, chief executive of the Help Appeal, echoed these sentiments: "We are incredibly grateful to have Freddie’s support, especially knowing that his life was saved thanks, in part, to a Help Appeal-funded helipad. His story highlights exactly why the charity’s work is so vital—seconds count in a medical emergency and that helipad made all the difference. Freddie’s backing brings invaluable awareness to the importance of rapid access to emergency care for everyone, everywhere."
The Help Appeal’s impact is already significant. The charity has funded 23 major upgrades at hospital helipads and, as of August 2025, has supported 32 NHS sites. Its ambitious goal to fund 40 new and upgraded helipads reflects a growing recognition that swift, direct access to trauma centers can be the difference between life and death. The campaign’s urgency is underscored by recent studies, including one led by Professor Porter, which demonstrate the effectiveness of hospital helipads in improving patient outcomes.
For Flintoff, the experience of being airlifted to safety was transformative. In the aftermath of the crash, he disappeared from public view for months, leaving his house only for medical appointments as he struggled through recovery. The journey back has been painstaking and emotional, chronicled in the Disney+ documentary that lays bare both the physical and psychological scars left by the accident. Flintoff’s candor about his ordeal—and his willingness to share the most vulnerable moments—has brought renewed attention to the vital role of emergency medical services and the infrastructure that supports them.
His story is not unique, but it is uniquely powerful. By lending his voice to the Help Appeal, Flintoff has become the face of a campaign that could save countless lives in the years to come. As Bertram put it, "Freddie’s backing brings invaluable awareness to the importance of rapid access to emergency care for everyone, everywhere."
Sir Keith Porter summed up the stakes with characteristic clarity: "Minutes count, particularly for patients with life-threatening bleeding, where the extra journey time can make the difference between life and death. The Help Appeal, by funding on-site helipads, helps facilitate the prompt delivery of patients directly into the emergency department with a trolley-push from the landing site."
Flintoff’s ordeal has cast a bright spotlight on the difference a few minutes—and a well-placed helipad—can make. As the campaign marches forward, it is clear that the lessons learned from one man’s brush with tragedy could pave the way for a safer, more responsive emergency care system for all.
