Andrew Flintoff's wife admits she'd 'never seen someone so scared' after his horror crash and opens up on heartbreaking conversation with their kids before they saw his injuries

Andrew Flintoff's wife has claimed she has 'never seen someone so scared' when visiting her husband in hospital after his life-altering car crash and revealed how she instructed their children to react when confronted with his injuries.

Rachael Wools, 43, appeared on a new Disney+ documentary about Flintoff's horrific crash, which happened while he was filming a Top Gear episode in 2022.

The former England cricket star turned television presenter was left with horrific injuries after the car he was testing on the BBC motoring show flipped over at the Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey.

Flintoff - who is also known by his nickname, Freddie - was driving a Morgan Super 3 three-wheeled sports car when it overturned and crashed off of the Top Gear test track on December 13 2022 during filming.

The car is an open-topped motor capable of hitting 130mph - and the cricketer wasn't wearing a helmet when the car flipped over.

Despite the car being equipped with roll bars designed to protect occupants in the event of turning over, Flintoff suffered severe facial injuries and broken ribs.

After the accident, it was reported that Rachael was given a heart-shattering three-word warning by a surgeon to 'expect the worst' when it came to Freddie's injuries.

Speaking for the first time about the aftermath of Flintoff's crash, Rachael admitted she initially had little information about the severity of the incident.

She told the documentary, called Flintoff, that she had been forced to pull herself together after seeing the extent of his injuries for the first time in hospital.

Rachael reflected she had 'never seen someone so scared in their eyes', before seeking to reassure her husband that he would recover from the crash.

‘I got a phone call, Andrew has been in an accident in Top Gear but we don’t have much information,' Rachael said on the documentary.

‘I think they might take him to the nearest hospital, it sounds like it’s just his teeth but we think he’ll be fine. I put the phone down and I didn’t think much of it to begin with, it just kind of escalated very quickly.

‘I wasn’t getting information, I didn’t know how he was injured and I just started grabbing all my stuff and thought I’m going to head to London and hopefully someone will tell me where he is.

‘When I did see him, I walked in the room he was in the bed and he was bandaged up, but his eyes, I’ve never seen someone so scared in their eyes.

‘He just stared at me and I think he was looking at me to know how bad he was.

‘I did totally pull myself together and I didn’t cry and said “it’s fine you’re going to be OK, I can’t believe how amazing you look".’

Rachael's desire to provide reassurance to her husband was reflected in her first conversation with the couple's children.

The former model and entrepreneur has four children with Flintoff, Rocky Flintoff, 17, Corey Flintoff, 19, Holly Flintoff, 20 and Preston, three.

Rachael revealed she instructed their children not to react when the confronted with his injuries for the first time in an attempt not to knock him as he continued his recovery.

She added it was the lowest she had seen Flintoff, who she married in 2005, three years after they had met at a cricket ground in Birmingham where she was promoting her events company, Strawberry Promotions.

‘Before we got home I did call the kids,' she said.

"You’ve just got to be as strong as you’ve ever been, your dad does look different at the moment. It’s going to get better but I don’t want you to look shocked and horrified because that’s going to knock him".

‘That was hard, and Andrew doesn’t know I’ve done that and I’m just so grateful to all of those people.

‘I still have a husband, the kids still had their dad and I’m very aware there are other people going through similar or very worse things without the help we had.

‘I think you saw none of Fred at all, he just zoned out didn’t want to speak to everyone. He just didn’t want to do anything. It was like the lowest I’ve ever, ever seen him.’

Flintoff retreated from public life for months as he recovered from his injuries sustained in the crash.

A trailer for the Disney+ documentary, released last week, gave viewers a glimpse of the horrifying scene that day.

Speaking ahead of the documentary's launch, Flintoff admitted he did not leave the house for around six to seven months as he attempted to cope mentally with his scars following the accident.

'I didn’t leave the house for probably six or eight months. The only times I was leaving the house was for medical appointments and surgeries.

'A mate of mine, Rob Key, who is actually my boss, known him for 30 years, he started inviting me to come and watch the cricket, test matches, but sit in a back room not in the crowd. I was wearing a full face mask for months.

'I started getting back into it and started to find my feet a little bit. Ever since I can remember, from being a kid, cricket was a massive part of my life.'

Flintoff, the man synonymous with England’s fabled 2005 Ashes success, had reemerged into the public eye nine months after the accident.

He began work as an unpaid mentor to the England's bowlers in September 2023.

Flintoff then joined up with England’s white-ball teams as an assistant coach in the away series in West Indies and the Twenty20 World Cup before taking his first head coach role with Northern Superchargers.

He was then appointed as head coach of the England Lions, which seeks to develop players for the senior England team.

Flintoff has said he wanted to film the documentary in order to give his side of the story after spending months out of the public eye, prompting concerns about his welfare.

'I've lived under radar for seven months,' Freddie says in the video. 'One of the real frustrations was the speculation, that's why I'm doing this now. What actually happened.'

Following the terrifying ordeal, Flintoff quit Top Gear and reportedly received a £9million settlement from the BBC of the crash, paid for by the broadcaster's commercial arm.

His wife Rachael and close friends including Michael Vaughan, James Corden, and Jack Whitehall, all appear in the film.

Flintoff is set to document the sportsman's compelling life story from winning two Ashes series for England, becoming captain of the team and to becoming a British TV icon.

It will delve into his return to the game following his life-altering car crash.

'This is a story of resilience through career highs, personal challenges, and the pressures of living under the public gaze,' the synopsis reads.

Previously speaking about the 90-minute film, the 47-year-old said: ‘Cricket has always been a massive part of my life, shaping who I am.

‘Looking back on the highs and the lows, including the challenges I've faced since my accident, has been a real reminder of why my career in the sport has meant so much.’

He returned to TV for his second series of Field of Dreams On Tour during summer last year for series two of his BBC show.

He confessed on the show how much he had struggled since his crash, talking about it for the first time.

He said: ‘I struggle with anxiety, I have nightmares, I have flashbacks. It's been so hard to cope. But I'm thinking if I don't do something, I'm never going to do nowt. I've got to get on with it.'

'It's going to be a long road back and I've only just started and I am struggling already and I need help. I really am.

'I'm not the best at asking for it. I need to stop crying every two minutes. I am looking forward to seeing the lads and being around them. I really am.

'Got to look on the positive: I'm still here. I've got another chance and I've got a go at it. I am seeing that as how it is - a second go.'

Flintoff is available exclusively on Disney+ in the UK and Ireland from Friday, April 25.