The Stig Exposes That He Was Freddie Flintoff Crash Survivor And Suffered From PTSD
Paul Rees revealed the truth about the identity of the Top Gear legend’s driver, The Stig. He is an ex-racer of the Formula 2 league. The accident took place when Paul Rees’s car, along with that of Freddie Flintoff, ended in a rollover at Dunsfold Aerodrome, Surrey, as the Morgan Super 3 flipped onto its roof.
In the accident, Paul injured his back while Freddie Flintoff, aged then 48, had a lot of facial reconstruction work done. After that, he was entitled to a big compensation of £12 million, which is equal to nearly ten years of an average working salary in the UK. The accident put an end to the Top Gear production, and in 2023 the BBC admitted that they would not take filming up again ‘for the foreseeable future.’ ‘The accident left Paul Rees—a 58-year-old married man who had two children and who was also driving in the Porsche Supercup—in a condition of PTSD. Moreover, he is expecting a settlement of more than £100,000 from his insurers.
The Stig Recalls Moment He Thought He and Freddie Flintoff Would Die
Paul was talking to The Sun, and he was recalling the awful scene where he and Freddie had nearly lost their lives due to the crash in the motor race. “My vision turned blood red,” Paul said. “I have to think that at least one drop of Fred’s blood sprayed over me. That was the reason,’ he continued.
“The first time after that, if we survive the accident and end up in wheelchairs, then we are the lucky ones. However, the scenario made me feel extremely scared at all that. Everything happens very slowly in such cases. In fact, I believe that the fact that the accident was quite likely to lead to death was the main reason that I had such a very bad impression because all the safety measures I had been using, such as a helmet, four- or five-point harnesses, and a roll hoop at home, were absent here.’
‘I realized very clearly the only thing between my head and the ground was the head of Fred. Even now I can’t imagine how the two of us just walked away from such a scene. That’s why I’ve been warning people about the risks involved since the beginning, and we weren’t heeding the warnings the BBC was giving.
Paul, who was there in the seat as a passenger only because the BBC producers didn’t want Freddie to be ‘dynamic enough’ on the track through the motor racing at a tricky ‘right-hand’ Chicago corner, was also recalled saying that he warned the presenter that a helmet would be wise, but the members of the crew had said ‘no.’
The Stig Says He Thought Freddie Flintoff Had Died After Crash
As for Paul, he said that after the accident he glanced over at Freddie, who was lying beside him, and just thought, ‘He must be dead.’ He got a bit more worried when only one medic came over, who then confessed and said he wasn’t fit to handle this.
Though it is reported that an ambulance crew stationed at the site of the crash had been decommissioned, BBC Studios has strongly rejected the allegations. After 999 was called, Freddie and Paul were informed about an ambulance, which will get to the nearest in two hours. Paul mentions that since Freddie delayed treatment, he had to wait for his own injuries until several hours later.
After receiving light pokes, a paramedical worker felt a very sharp pain in Paul’s spinal area, so he alerted Jemma, and the wife got a call about the crash while on a hospital spinal board. He said that later Freddie called him in a recording, though almost inaudible owing to the terrible damage to his face and lack of teeth, so to make sure that he was alright, he recovered. And one of the BBC executives, according to Paul, tried to tell him to downplay his comments about the accident so that the show would be able to resume when Freddie’s recovery was complete. After getting a call from the company, only when a therapy session with other staff was offered to him did Paul get any more information.
BBC Blames The Stig for Freddie Flintoff’s Top Gear Crash
Lawyers for BBC Studios have denied very firmly that they were at fault. On the other side of the spectrum, they contend in their explanation: It was [Rees’s] wrong orders that ultimately resulted in the tragedy.’ The BBC Studios submission unveils a minute-to-minute account of the happenings right before the crash of Dunsfold Aerodrome, where Flintoff was dragged along face down for approximately a half hundred meters.
The Super 3 is a car without a roof. Flintoff hadn’t gotten his helmet on, and according to reports after that, he had quite the wait of 45 minutes before he could be lifted by helicopter to St. George’s Hospital in London, as members of the team first had difficulty in finding a stretcher. They had microphones installed in the vehicle before the incident, and it comes from the document of the BBC Studios, a company involved in this production, that Rees had assured Flintoff that the car would not skid after being turned just before that happened, explaining that ‘when you turn the steering wheel then press the accelerator and when you get out of the car in a kind of slide, take the engine off and try to drift it…’
The Super 3 flipped just a moment after Rees made the comment that according to BBC Studios it was the pair that were going for Chicago corner, and Rees said: ‘Now turning up here, now turning right, now full power, full power.’ Just a few moments after the Super 3 flipped.
Paul Rees Says BBC Made Him the ‘Fall Guy’ After Crash
Paul, who thought he had nothing to worry about anymore as he was given a clean bill of health, found out in 2023 that actually he had broken his back. He has been living with chronic pain for months. Rees said in the interview that BBC’s team of people kept turning around and blaming him for the accident because he was the ‘pro driver’ and suggested to him to ‘look for a good lawyer.’
Paul, an Omaze luxury home competition program host, got married to a 40-year-old physiotherapist, Jemma, and the couple resides in a £1.3m country house south of Oxford with their two sons. The Daily Mail’s sources say that Paul was provided with thorough medical, legal, and welfare care services after the accident. Speaking for BBC Studios: ‘Our claim is being disputed, and we are defending its grounds through the court. Since the case was referred to the courts, it would hardly make any sense for us to comment further,’ a spokesman said.
People who speak to such an extent also know that the way the situation has developed in the report by the accident investigation, even though it has not been made public, the evidence goes against some of Rees’s claims, is how the BBC sees it.
Paul Rees Becomes the Latest Top Gear Stig to Be Unmasked
Paul is the fourth identity of the Top Gear Stig that has ever been revealed as a person since the character first appeared back in October 2002.
Perry McCarthy, who was the first Stig in a black suit, is currently 65 and was once an F1 racer. When he was first unveiled as Stig in November 2003, the white-suited Stig took on the character. His identity was uncovered after former Formula 3 driver Ben Collins wished to release ‘The Man in the White Suit.’ The situation led to Ben Collins and the BBC engaging in a lawsuit.
The TopGear Stig from 05/2010 to 2022 was the Stig of Phil Keen. Anyway, it would still be up to the Stig not to be seen on camera, and besides Phil Keen, the Stig suit was periodically available to others such as Paul Rees. In 2006, world champion Michael Schumacher took over as the Stig for about a week only. It is a long-standing legend that British actor Daniel Craig has performed as Stig wearing the Stig suit. It is unlikely that Top Gear will return this year, after the accident at the set of the show.
