Back in June, a visibly shaken Gordon Ramsay relayed to his social media followers that he had been in a "really bad" bike accident and that he was "lucky to be here." To that point, he revealed a horrific, dark purple bruise covering his left torso and a cracked bike helmet . And now, Ramsay is opening up about exactly what happened.
Just five weeks after his accident, the 57-year-old was interviewed for a cover story in the latest issue of Men's Health , where he says he hit a "crater-like pothole" with his front wheel while whizzing down a hill. Apparently, his bicycle spun a full 180 degrees and "catapulted" him through the air.
At the time, perhaps due to the initial shock, Ramsay says he attempted to put the chain back on his bike so he could continue riding. But he soon realized that his helmet had "split completely" and that his vision was blurred and there was blood everywhere. He later came to realize that his helmet was the reason he hadn't lost consciousness, much less his life.
"I honestly thought I was going to pass out," Ramsay told the publication. However, he managed to call his assistant, Justin Mandel, who called him an ambulance to hospital.
Ramsay's recovery sounded humbling, to say the least. To reduce the significant swelling, he underwent daily lymphatic drainage massages and physical therapy. And then there were the daily challenges.
"I couldn’t even put my f--king socks and pants on," he explained. "Justin, he used to dress me in the morning. I felt like a f--king 95-year-old man. Asking a 30-year-old kid to put my f--king underpants on was embarrassing."
But the accident hasn't kept him from training. Now, well on the road to recovery, Ramsay has resumed swimming and even cycling.
Ramsay also stressed the importance of wearing a bike helmet when he initially had his accident.
"Honestly, you’ve got to wear a helmet. I don’t care how short the journey is," he said at the time. "I don't care, the fact that these helmets cost money, but they're crucial ... I'm lucky to be standing here. I'm in pain, it's been a brutal week, and I'm sort of getting through it. But I cannot tell you the importance of wearing a helmet."
He concluded his message by wishing his followers a happy Father's Day, adding: "But please, please, please, wear a helmet, because if I didn't, honestly I wouldn't be here now."
He's not wrong. According to Cleveland Clinic , bicycle helmet not only reduce serious head injuries by 60 percent and traumatic brain injury by 53 percent, but reduce the overall number of cyclists killed or seriously injured by 34 percent. You can likely count Ramsay among those stats.
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