The Grand Tour’s James May was involved in a nasty car accident while filming in 2022 and three years on, the broadcaster is still suffering side effects
The Grand Tour’s James May has admitted he’s turning to drink over a neck problem he’s suffering from in the aftermath of a terrifying car crash three years ago. The motoring legend shared his woes with his followers online, admitting that his health is still being affected by the years he spent on the road.
James wrote: “When I move my head around, my neck feels and sounds as if cornflakes have been inserted between the vertebrae. Should I worry about this or just have a gin?” He quickly answered his own question before his followers got a chance to, joking: “Tbh I’m already having the gin.”
Responses soon started flooding in from concerned fans, one of whom had suffered from a car crash himself. He wrote: “I get that too, because I broke my C2 twenty-five years ago in a car crash and nearly died so I figure the odd cornflake-sound is a fair swap. Actually I think it’s just the cartilage grinding a bit, and it goes away in my case. I don’t drink, but you have a gin!”
Another suggested: “In case you are serious: I had the same issue. Find a good chiropractor/physical therapist who’ll help stretch out your vertebrae and give you exercises to decompress your spine and neck. It’ll work after a while- that or splash some milk on your neck to soften those cornflakes.”
Someone else shared that their dad had that issue until he saw a physio, and suggested James May do exercises to strengthen his neck muscles as that might solve the problem.
However, others were happy to crack jokes about the situation with the car expert, encouraging him to just keep drinking gin until the grinding sound goes away.
James had to be taken to the hospital after a horrifying collision with a wall in 2022 that had Richard Hammond convinced his co-star had died.
He hit the bricks while driving at 75mph, leaving Jeremy Clarkson terrified. Paramedics immediately rushed him for a brain scan and X rays, which revealed that he had miraculously only broken one rib.
Before receiving the results James thought he had injured the vertebrae in his neck – and as it turns out, that might still be a possibility.
After researching his condition, one follower told the Top Gear star: “The crunching sound and sensation in your neck when you move it—often described as feeling like cornflakes or gravel—[is] likely crepitus, which is the noise made by air bubbles collapsing in the synovial fluid within your joints.”
Another pleaded with him to put down the gin, adding: “I stopped drinking for a few months to see what happens, and was able to observe a mild improvement in terms of joint health.”
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