by RichardHammond (Author)
He describes his childhood and adolescence and the emergence of the adrenalin junkie, the first ridiculous stunts on his tricycle, and an increasing and near obsessive attraction to speed and the smell of petrol. He finds an attractive girl, Mindy, who shares his interests and helps him organise his high-speed life. For such a lively and intelligent communicator TV beckons and he becomes one of the daredevil trio, with Jeremy Clarkson and James May, who make such an enormous world-wide success of the revamped BBC TV programme Top Gear. He describes the personalities, the camaraderie and the stunts with which they entertain their weekly audiences until the day of his 300 mph crash that took Top Gear off the air and plunged a nation into mourning. The day of the crash, his rescue and the flight to hospital in a coma are described and then Mindy recounts the anxious waiting until he finally emerges from his coma - to immediately pull out all his life support equipment - and Richard then pieces together the stages of recovery as his shattered mind slowly reforms. We learn exactly what happened to him and the milestones in his slow recovery to full health. The final chapter recounts the return to Top Gear and the screening of the events of that fateful day.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 320
Edition: Export Ed
Publisher: W&N
Published: 20 Sep 2007
ISBN 10: 0297853554
ISBN 13: 9780297853558
Book Overview: National outpouring of affection when it appeared his life was in danger with daily front-page bulletins in all newspapers around the world Google registers over 2 million entries for 'Richard Hammond' Special edition of Top Gear which welcomed him back in January 2007 with footage of the crash which was watched by 9 million people In July 2005 he won the dubious accolade of being voted number one in a Heat magazine poll of the top 'weird celebrity crushes'. Also in 2005 he was voted one of the top 10 British TV talents.