BBC Presenter Critically Injured in Car Crash

LONDON, Sept. 21, 2006 — -- BBC television personality Richard Hammond was hospitalized in serious condition after crashing a jet-powered car while filming his television show.

Hammond, the host of the popular British automotive program "Top Gear," suffered a serious brain injury when he crashed a dragster at a former Royal Air Force base in northern England. Witnesses said he had driven the dragster for several runs, some at speeds near 300 mph, when the car veered off the track. The car tore through the nearby grass and flipped over before it came to a stop right side up.

According to those at the scene, rescuers had to cut Hammond out of the car. Doug Ogden, one of the rescuers, told the BBC that Hammond had regained consciousness and was talking before he was airlifted to Leeds General Infirmary hospital.

A spokesman for Leeds General Infirmary told ABC News that the brain injury "is still giving cause for concern, as it is still early after the injury. However, we are reasonably optimistic that he will make a good recovery."

Dr. John Wilson, a neurosurgeon at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, said that the injuries likely came from the rapid deceleration of the car.

"It's a similar situation to Dale Earnhardt, when his car crashed head on into a wall," Wilson said, referring to the 2001 NASCAR accident that killed the racecar driver. "Rapid deceleration causes the brain to basically shift inside the skull, and it can impact on the skull."

Wilson also noted that the reports of Hammond's consciousness immediately after the accident meant that his injury was "potentially reversible."

It's believed that Hammond may have been trying to break the land speed record for the show when the accident happened. The car he was driving was similar to the Vampire dragster, which previously broke the land speed record. However, no officials were present at the base to record the attempts.

Hammond's co-hosts on the show, Jeremy Clarkson and James May, spent the day at the hospital with Hammond's family.