But within 24 hours, he had improved. Within 48, he was out of danger. Five minutes ago, as I sat at my desk, bugger me if he didn’t ring me up and talk to me in a perfectly lucid, normal way. He was a bit confused, certainly, but it was Richard Hammond. Excellent.

More at the Telegraph.

The rapid recovery of Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond after his high-speed car crash has amazed the public and medical experts.

Only nine days after his 300mph jet-powered car crashed during filming, Mr Hammond is walking and talking and off emergency care.

But his progress over the next six months is likely to be much slower and the outcomes less clear, say doctors.

Dr. John Freeland, consultant neurosurgeon from the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Trust, said it was too early too tell what the long-term future would hold.

More at BBC News.

Vuk doesn’t think that Fifth Gear will be re-airing, so I’ve put the scene rip up. It’s the same filesize as everything as we’d do and probably just as good quality. So if you haven’t seen it (and are interested), go download it now. However, it’s a pretty bad episode, so if you decide to not download it, you won’t be missing much. ;)

The Sun has two articles on Richard’s recent move as well as further details on his injuries from the crash.

“He is likely to make a full recovery but he is not out of the woods yet. He is under close observation for any signs of seizure which could be caused by a new bleed. He’s a fighter and has made brilliant progress.”

Richard’s consultant neurosurgeon Stuart Ross predicted the dad of two could be “back to his old self” within six months. Mr Ross said: “He has a significant brain injury. He must rest and allow his brain to recover which takes time.

“I am sure that once that period is over Richard will be back to his old self.”

He laughed and joked with medics yesterday and said of the helicopter: “This is a nice bit of kit.”

Before take-off, pilot Steve Cobb, 51, gave a noise alert, warning: “If anyone has an aversion to jet engines they’d better close their ears now.” Chirpy Hammond, 36, quipped: “Funnily enough, the last thing I heard was a jet engine!”

Tiff’s article in The Sun is a week old, but I just saw it now, so I’m posting it.

Is the Tour De France a bad example to cyclists? Is throwing a javelin encouraging people to start chucking spears? Is sprinting encouraging people to run down pavements? Where do you end?

From BBC News:

The recovery of Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond has been “absolutely remarkable”, says the ambulance team which moved him to a Bristol hospital.

Mike Lindley of Yorkshire Air Ambulance estimated Mr Hammond could be nearly back to normal in two or three weeks.

Hammond is facing a 6 month recovery period BBC News reports:

[His neurosurgeon said] “He has to rest and allow his brain to recover and that takes time. I’m sure that once that period is over he will be back to his old self.”

When asked when that might be, Mr Ross suggested a timeframe of around six months.

BBC News and The Sun both have articles on Hammond being moved to a hospital closer to his home today. I think this picture from The Sun just about says it all in terms of how he’s doing (image is copyrighted by The Sun):

The BBC also has a video news report on his move:

Forgot to post that I put season 7 of Fifth Gear back up. If you had been wanting to get any of them, now’s the time.