A dog walker has lifted the lid on the moments following Michail Antonio’s horrifying car crash, even revealing what the dazed West Ham footballer said when he found him in the wreckage.
Antonio was involved in an accident in Theydon Bois, Essex on Saturday and had to be an airlifted to a hospital in central London.
It took almost an hour for emergency services to free Antonio from the mangled remains of his Ferrari FF but West Ham confirmed on Saturday night that the 34-year-old was communicating again and in a stable condition.
it’s understood Antonio’s ex-wife, Debbie, rushed to be at the striker’s bedside while the attacker received messages of support from around the footballing world.
Gary Lineker was among the many to reach out to Antonio with his best wishes at the start of Saturday’s Match of the Day programme on the BBC.
On Sunday night an official statement from the Hammers revealed that Antonio was undergoing surgery for a broken leg and some reports indicate the Jamaica international could be out of action for up to a year.
‘Everyone at the club wishes Michail a speedy recovery and wishes to express its sincere gratitude to the football family at large for the overwhelming support shown since yesterday’s news, as well as extending a heartfelt thank you to the emergency services and first responders who attended to Michail in the immediate aftermath of the incident, and the medical team who continue to aid him in his recovery,’ the statement read.
A day on from Antonio’s crash, The Sun spoke with Samuel Woods, 34, a carer from Regent’s Park, who noticed the West Ham star’s smashed-up vehicle while driving home from walking his dog.
The seriousness of the situation quickly became evident, with Woods spotting a confused and injured man inside the car who appeared in ‘big trouble’.
‘I said to him “hello” to see if anyone was alive,’ he explained.
‘I heard sirens and told him that help was on its way.
‘He was so disorientated. He said, “Where am I? What’s going on? What car am I in?”
‘The paramedics got there really fast. I couldn’t believe what happened. The car smelt of petrol.
Woods – who is not a football fan and therefore did not recognise Antonio – added: ‘I looked at him and thought, ‘He’s in big trouble.
‘I just said, “You’ve had an accident”. He didn’t reply. He was looking around trying to make sense of what I just said. He was sitting in the passenger side.’
Other witnesses reported seeing enormous plumes of smoke coming out of the wreckage of Antonio’s Ferrari, with one motorist telling The Sun: ‘I could see the car was a total mess.
‘Because there was smoke coming out of the car people were too scared to approach it I think.’
Antonio has been with West Ham since 2015 and is the club’s all-time top scorer in the Premier League with 68 goals in 268 appearances for the east London outfit.
The former Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest ace was called up to play for England by two separate managers, Sam Allardyce and Gareth Southgate, but never played for the Three Lions.
In 2021, Antonio made his debut for the Jamaican national team and has gone on to be capped 21 times for the country.
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