Michail Antonio does not know how he crashed his car into the tree. All he knows is that he did.
“The police came, and when they found me, I was in between the two seats. I wasn’t actually in the driver’s seat,” he recalls.
“They said it looked like I was trying to climb out of the window, but because my leg was so badly broken the pain probably stopped me from being able to get out.”
The first pictures of his crumpled Ferrari, which struck a tree in Epping Forest on a stormy Saturday in early December, were shared on social media and left people questioning whether Antonio was still alive.
The incident left West Ham’s record Premier League goalscorer in the hospital for more than three weeks with a broken leg – and facing a grueling journey back to fitness.
Today, Antonio insists he will play again at the highest level, and feels he has been given “another chance at life” after he was “close to dying.”
The 34-year-old sat down for an exclusive interview with BBC One’s Morning Live presenter Helen Skelton to reflect on his “horrendous accident.”
What happened on the day of the crash?
Saturday, 7 December, had started out as a typical morning for Antonio, with West Ham training for a televised league match against Wolves two days later.
He remembers the weather “was windy, wet and horrific” on a day when the Met Office had issued warnings for Storm Darragh.
Antonio had felt “lazy” when his partner asked him to retrieve some bags from their other car before he set off, so instead he took his Ferrari which he says he had doubts about.
“The back of the car kept swinging out on me, so I didn’t feel safe,” he says. “I had had it for three weeks and I was already thinking about giving it back.”
It was a decision that changed everything, but when asked what he remembers about the crash itself, which occurred on his way home, his answer is “nothing.”
“It’s weird, because the whole way through this, I have been told that I was awake and was speaking to everybody the police, the people, and the person who found me,” he says.
“My leg was completely shattered, and they got me out and put a splint on it by the side of the car.
“Everyone believed I got an air ambulance out, but the helicopter couldn’t get off the ground because of the storm, so I was driven to the hospital.”
Three weeks ago, Antonio went to see the remains of his car at the scrapyard.
“It gave me a weird feeling in my stomach. It just made me realize how close I was to dying. I had seen the pictures, but it was 10 times worse in person. The car was an absolute mess. It was difficult for me.”
