Shocking new images of Andrew Flintoff’s injuries released years after life-threatening Top Gear crash

Andrew Flintoff's horror facial injuries from his near-fatal Top Gear crash have been unveiled to the public for the first time.

The England cricket legend is pictured looking bloodied, bruised and battered as a result of his high-speed accident in December 2022.

GRAPHIC WARNING

Flintoff required surgery after being airlifted to hospital - leaving him with life-changing injuries.

The Ashes 2005 hero had his face dragged across the tarmac at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey after the Morgan Super 3 three-wheeled sports car he was driving flipped over.

Flintoff, who is now back working in cricket as the head coach of the England Lions, speaks candidly about the crash and the serious effects it has had on him in his Disney+ documentary which is released on Friday.

And viewers finally see the graphic and gruesome facial injuries the 47-year-old sustained - before and after his five-hour long operation.

A black left eye was the least of his concerns, with Flintoff suffering a mixture of soft and hard tissue injuries, as well as breaking and losing teeth.

Pictures see the British icon without a significant portion of his upper lip, with the ex-Lancashire star looking almost recognisable with stitches running from his forehead, past his nose and across his cheek.

The images are so shocking that his ex-England teammate Steve Harmison told talkSPORT he broke down in tears upon seeing his mate in the state he was in.

Harmison said: "Andrew was always image conscious. I saw some of the pictures before he went into surgery.

“When he sent them to me, I didn’t stop crying for a long, long time.

“He’s lucky to be still with us. He’s lucky he’s been patched up and they've done a wonderful job and his confidence is back and it’s great to see him back in cricket.”

GRAPHIC WARNING

As for Flintoff himself, he has admitted part of him wishes he had died, while also expressing fear that his face had been ripped off.

He said: "I thought I was dead, because I was conscious, but I couldn't see anything.

"I thought my face had come off. I was frightened to death.

"After the accident, I didn't think I had it in me to get through.

"This sounds awful, part of me wishes I had been killed, part of me thinks, 'I wish I had died.'

"I didn't want to kill myself, don't mistake the two things, but I was thinking, 'This would have been so much easier.'

"My biggest fear was I didn't think I had a face. I thought my face had come off.

"In some ways it would have been easier if I'd gone unconscious and then been unconscious for a week or two, and you wake up and the stitches are out, but I remember everything.

"We’re probably doing about 40, 45 (mph). They were just showing me how to get the car going sideways and the wheel came up on the front.

"It's a funny thing rolling a car because there's a point of no return and everything slows down. It's so weird."

Regarding his change in appearance, Flintoff remarked: "There are moments when I forget and I'm just living. It's so nice.

"And then you just get a stark reminder. I get a feeling over my face because it's all tight, and it's different.

"I've got no teeth, so something will fall out my mouth as I am eating. Or I look in a mirror and it all comes back.

'You know, you say that your face is your identity. How many times do we hear that?

"People saying it's what's inside that counts, it's not how you look. B*****ks!"