Richard Hammond's wife "almost went to pieces" when she was told he'd been caught up in a horror crash on a Swiss mountainside while filming for 'The Grand Tour'.
Richard Hammond
Mindy Hammond was beside herself when she found out the petrol head had careered off the hilltop while travelling at 120mph in his £2 million electric super car, which later burst into flames, and was airlifted to hospital via helicopter just over a week ago.
Writing in the Sunday Express newspaper, she said: "I almost went to pieces this time. I didn't rant or get hysterical but my brain needed to keep itself occupied with something - anything - as long as it wasn't the reality of Richard's situation."
Mindy - who married Richard in 2002 - first heard from her husband when he was lying on the stretcher but he played down the incident by saying it was just "a bit of a shunt."
But his co-star James May then came on the phone and told her that the crash was much more serious than Richard had initially let on, and she immediately rushed out the door to by herself and her daughters Willow and Isabella some chocolate.
She explained: "I dragged Izzy into a shop and started buying chocolate for everyone, including myself. I rarely eat the stuff, in fact none of us do. It was ridiculous, and as we came back onto the street, I said, 'What am I doing?' "
This is the second time the 47-year-old car fanatic has cheated death as 11 years ago he suffered a life-threatening brain injury after he was involved in a 288mph car crash.
Mindy added: "Most of us are fortunate to escape looking death in the face. Richard's done it twice - and that's two times too many."
Although his friends and family were fearing the worst, Richard managed to escape the most recent crash with a few cuts and bruises and a broken knee as he managed to unclasp his seat belt and leap from the vehicle after it spiralled off the hilltop.
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