Jeremy Clarkson Sheds Light On Richard Hammond’s Health After Brain Injury: “No Capacity For Remembering Anything”

In 2006, Richard Hammond was put into a coma for two weeks after an incident in a jet-powered dragster where it crashed at 319mph leaving the Top Gear presenter with a serious brain injury.

11 years later, Hammond crashed an all-electric Rimac Concept One on The Grand Tour after failing to stop at the end of a Swiss Hill Climb. Here, he suffered a fractured knee and broken rib, but since then his bad luck in cars has become a joke between him and his co-presenters Jeremy Clarkson and James May.

But now, Jeremy has revealed that despite Hammond’s first crash being so long ago, he’s still feeling the side effects of his head injuries, specifically, a loss of memory. He told the Sunday Mirror:

“Well it’s not his fault, it is because he cannot drive and he went upside down and damaged his brain

“But you can tell him something and five seconds later it is gone out of his head.

“He has no capacity for remembering anything and some of it is because he is not interested in anything and some of it is because he has had brain damage.”

In an interview with The Irish Times, Hammond also talked about the side effects he was feeling thanks to him damaging his frontal lobe.

He said: “When I was initially in recovery, because it was a frontal lobe injury, the doctor said one of the problems is what they call ‘lost-keys syndrome’.

“Years later I’d lose my keys and I’d think: it’s because of my brain injury. But, no, I’d just lost my keys. I’m 51.

“Now, I regularly go into a room and I can’t remember what I went into it for. But I no longer think: oh god, my brain isn’t working.”

Hammond noted closer to the incident that he suffered from depression after his injuries, and he found it hard to “connect emotionally”. Some say he suffered from post-traumatic amnesia (PTA), after he woke up confused, agitated, and distressed.

Since this, it’s been revealed that his insurance is incredibly high, admitting to the Sun the following:

“I have fun when I want to insure something else because there will always be the question, ‘Have you had any accidents in the last two years Mr Hammond?’ Oh, um, maybe. Yeah.”

He continued: “My CV does not read well.”