Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of Virgin Group, saw his life “flash before his eyes” after a head-first bike crash in the British Virgin Islands, reports the U.K.’s The Sun.
The business magnate, 66, credits his bicycle helmet with saving his life — and had a moment where he thought for certain he was going to die.
Branson was on a training run, which involves moving at very high speeds, and ended up flying over his bicycle handlebars and falling face-first onto the road. He had his two adult children, Holly and Sam, with him.
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“I was heading down a hill towards Leverick Bay when it suddenly got really dark and I managed to hit a ‘sleeping policeman’ hump in the road head on,” he said of the ordeal. “My bike went flying off the cliff and disappeared. We’ve since recovered the crumpled bicycle, completely destroyed. My cheek has been badly damaged and my knee, chin, shoulder and body severely cut.”
He couldn’t believe he was still alive and not paralyzed in any way.
“Coincidentally, the first person to arrive on the scene was my assistant Helen, who had just returned from holiday,” he said. “She was wondering who was lying prostrate on the road. I was so glad to be alive that I quickly was able to summon my sense of humour, and said to her: ‘I’m alive! At least you’ve still got a job!'”
Branson received medical attention in Miami, including multiple scans and x-rays, and doctors say he has a few torn ligaments, a cracked cheekbone and many scrapes, bruises and cuts.
His positivity about life in general was not damaged whatsoever in the crash.
“My attitude has always been, if you fall flat on your face, at least you’re moving forward,” he said. “All you have to do is get back up and try again. At least I’m practicing what I preach – though a little too literally!”
This isn’t the media mogul’s first accident; Branson was stung by a stingray a few months ago in the Cayman Islands.
Shortly afterwards, on the same trip, he walked into a bulletproof-glass door, cutting himself above his eye. He received stitches and said he mostly suffered embarrassment.
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Branson is an adventurer, daredevil and innovator, so this probably isn’t the last time we’ll see the British businessman coming face-to-face with death.
(To see more incredible pictures of the accident, visit The Sun.)
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