Hammond believed he was a goner. His last thought before blacking out was "we'll wave the flag.” Doctors measure severity using a points system with fifteen being normal and three a flat line – Hammond was a three. The situation was made worse, in true Top Gear fashion, with the use of afterburners on the jet powered car. According to Hammond, "it's an amazing amount of power. All I wanted to do was get to the point where I could drive it with the afterburners on, which I did. Apparently there was a load of stuff in the papers about us breaking a land speed record.
Strangely, his biggest disappointment is that he walked away unscathed, finishing "Do you realize how annoyed I am that I've got no marks on me? Absolutely nothing at all, nothing for the pub.” Click here to read the full article from the UK’s edition of The Mirror.