It’s hard to imagine Mindy Hammond ever cheerfully declared that her family was “lucky.”
However, following her husband Richard’s near-fatal accident when he crashed a Top Gear jet at 280mph in 2006, suffering a debilitating brain injury, the TV presenter’s wife insisted she had a lot to be grateful for.
‘We were lucky… I will always be grateful that our marriage survived while others disintegrated. “It sounds terribly rude, but I really think it has made us stronger,” he said at the time.
Certainly, the grueling experience of watching her husband fight for his life (she barely left his bed while he was in a coma and remained silent for a full fortnight) demonstrated that Mindy had a strength that few could fail to impress.
Nineteen years later, a lot has changed.
Late last year, devoted Mindy told Richard that their previously ‘amazing’ 28-year marriage was over.
I can reveal the 55-year-old billionaire was “shocked” by her decision to leave him, despite Mindy warning Richard he was on his “last chance” eight years before the couple announced their marriage was over.
“It was a case that I really didn’t believe would happen,” said a source close to the family. “But Mindy has been through so much that she’s had to pick up the pieces many times.”
Late last year, Mindy told Richard that their previously “amazing” marriage was over.
The 55-year-old suffered a near-fatal accident in 2006 while filming an episode of Top Gear.
The billionaire was behind the wheel in 2017 when he suffered another collision that took him by plane to a Swiss hospital.
Mindy, who will turn 60 this year, made the decision “around November,” friends say, but the couple only decided to make it public on Thursday.
Sources say Mindy grew tired of Richard’s obsession with cars, as she not only had to deal with his accident in 2006, but also another in 2017, when he was airlifted to a hospital in Switzerland after an accident. described by co-star Jeremy Clarkson as ‘the scariest (and) biggest thing I’ve ever seen’.
This time, Richard escaped with a broken knee and exited the electric supercar seconds before it burst into flames.
“Richard had two really horrible knocks and things like that change you,” a source said. ‘For Mindy, she has had to care for him and take care of him, as well as being a mother to her daughters, Isabella and Willow.
‘This is getting more and more difficult. You can’t blame Mindy for wanting to have a little time to herself now that her kids are older.’
Unlike other celebrity breakups, here it seems that cars were the third party, and not another woman or man. Sources close to the couple confirm that no one else is involved.
The couple’s statement announcing their decision was a model of mutual respect: ‘Our marriage is coming to an end, but we have spent 28 incredible years together and two incredible daughters. “We will always be in each other’s lives and we are proud of the family we created.”
However, despite all this, the friends fear that things are going to get ugly.
Richard and Mindy with their two daughters, Izzy, center left, and Willow.
Richard had been living in a renovated barn on the castle grounds after the separation, but now lives in a rented property near the estate.
A former colleague of Richard’s said Mindy is believed to have applied to keep her £7million 15th-century Grade II property, bought in 2008, which has six bedrooms, a swimming pool and 20 acres of land, as well as half of her business. . , The Smallest Cog Car Restoration Shop.
“While it sounds bad that Richard was thrown into a barn, it’s pretty cool,” a source said. “But having to move out of the family home is heartbreaking – he has worked hard for it, but she has been through a lot with Richard and has worked tirelessly to keep him in one piece.”
‘Mindy will soon turn 60 and that is a crucial moment for a woman. He has dedicated his life to Richard; now the time has come.’
For his part, Richard has long been effusive about his love for his newspaper columnist wife, once telling an interviewer: “I’m very lucky, I married my best friend.” I know it sounds really cheesy, but it really is. We understand each other better than anyone.
In fact, the levels of understanding Mindy had to show Richard as he recovered from his devastating brain injury were almost holy.
In 2019, she said: “It was disconcerting when, shortly after the accident, Richard looked at me from his hospital bed and said: ‘You’re lovely, but you’re not my wife.’
“When I corrected him, he replied, ‘No, you’re not my wife, my wife is French.'” When he was allowed to return home five weeks later, it became clear that Richard’s memory loss was not a short-lived affliction. It didn’t seem able to retain information for more than ten seconds and found himself reading the same page of the newspaper over and over again.
‘Richard’s personality also changed and he became prone to mood swings and depression.
«During breakfast there was a particularly unpleasant moment. I watched as his face transformed into a series of different expressions, changing second by second. Then one summer afternoon, Richard turned to me and said, “Bring the girls and get out of the house now.” I told him to relax, but he said, “No, just get out.” He could feel the anger rising and feared he wouldn’t be able to control himself.
“It must have been absolutely terrifying for him.”
And for her. In fact, it is notable that their children are now in their twenties and more capable of taking care of themselves. Only six and three years old at the time of her first accident, and in her crucial teenage years at the time of her second, there is no doubt that having to act as the wife of an accident-prone adrenaline junkie and as A loving mother took its toll.
At the time of Richard’s second accident in 2017, Mindy wrote that she heard the news while she was “in the center of Cheltenham with our 16-year-old daughter Izzy, shopping for a party we were going to that night.”
‘We hugged each other and kept reassuring each other: “It’s okay.” There is nothing to worry about.” “It’s okay, we’ve talked to him. It will be fine.”
‘But in the back of my mind, and Izzy’s too, were the memories of her last accident. I don’t panic, but this time I almost fell to pieces…’
Since their breakup, Richard has sought solace by restoring his beloved cars.
He has had the support of a group of local friends who have been by his side as he comes to terms with being a single man in his 50s.
“Richard has been dividing his time between the local pub and his business – he is trying to keep a smile on his face as he contemplates where his life is heading,” said a friend.
For Mindy, however, the world finally seems to be free of oil and high-speed car fanatics. Finally, live life in your own lane.