- Virgin tycoon Sir Richard was on a training cycle run with his children
- They were on British Virgin Islands when horrifying incident happened
- 66-year-old billionaire was taken to Miami, Florida, for X-rays and scans
- Medics there found he had suffered torn ligaments and a cracked cheek
Sir Richard Branson has revealed how he feared he would die after crashing head first onto a road in a high-speed bike crash on the British Virgin Islands.
The 66-year-old Virgin tycoon was on a training cycle run with his two adult children Holly and Sam when the horrifying incident happened on Virgin Gorda on Monday.
Sir Richard, who is worth nearly £4billion, was taken to Miami, Florida, for X-rays and scans - which found he had suffered torn ligaments and a cracked cheek.
Richard Branson has revealed how he feared he would die after crashing head first onto a road
The 66-year-old Virgin tycoon was on a training cycle run with his two children Holly and Sam
Sir Richard was cycling on the British Virgin Islands when the incident happened on Monday
He said: ‘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.
‘The next thing I knew, I was being hurled over the handlebars and my life was literally flashing before my eyes. I really thought I was going to die.
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‘I went flying head-first towards the concrete road, but fortunately my shoulder and cheek took the brunt of the impact.’
Sir Richard added that wearing a helmet saved his life, and his bicycle went flying off the cliff’. He continued: ‘I really couldn’t believe I was alive, let alone not paralysed.’
The first person to arrive on the scene was his assistant Helen Clarke, whom he claims to have told: ‘I’m alive! At least you’ve still got a job.’
Sir Richard, who is worth nearly £4billion, was taken to Miami, Florida, for X-rays and scans
One of his team sprinted over to help him and he was taken to Miami for treatment
One of his team sprinted over to help him and he was taken to Miami for treatment, but admitted he had been ‘extremely fortunate’ with his lack of major injuries.
He added: ‘My biggest hardship is having to drink tea out of a straw. Oh, and being called elephant man by a six year old.
‘My attitude has always been, if you fall flat on your face, at least you’re moving forward. All you have to do is get back up and try again.’
The accident took place on the fifth anniversary of the fire on his private residence of Necker Island, which gutted his £75million house and led to it being rebuilt.
On Tuesday his Twitter account posted CCTV images appearing to show Labour's Jeremy Corbyn walking past empty unreserved train seats before he was filmed sitting on the floor complaining about 'ram-packed' carriages on a Virgin service.
Tea through a straw: Medics found he had suffered torn ligaments and a cracked cheek
Sir Richard said that wearing a helmet saved his life, and his bicycle went flying off the cliff’
Blaze: The accident took place on the fifth anniversary of the fire on his private residence of Necker Island in 2011, which gutted his £75million house and led to it being rebuilt
Sir Richard had been training for next month's Virgin Strive Challenge in Italy, which he still hopes to take part in. Read more about his ordeal and the event here
