Get well soon, James.

[dit]

Passed on from those on Final Gear who went to today's (15th February) filming, James has fallen down stairs at home and broken his sternum. I know that's a nasty injury and very painful (and ironically, usually caused by a car accident).

Quoted from FG (thanks to MWF and he-he)

The news was a bit slow and forced

I concur, the News was a bit of a struggle.... (as) James was in obvious discomfort with a broken sternum having fallen down his stairs at home I'm more than prepared to forgive them.

(Question) So every laugh James makes is an unbearable pain for his sternum?

Pretty much. It was obvious he was in pain, and they had to wait for him to recover a couple of times during the filming. Poor man.


I'm sure we all want to send him our very best wishes for a swift recovery.

[ElerVim]

Good God, that means he fell forward down the stairs. It's a good thing his sternum didn't crack and puncture his lung. I'm glad he didn't break anything else, like his nose or his neck or even his hip. I hope this convinces him to put carpeting on his stairs if he doesn't have it already. If any good came of this, at least it wasn't multiple fractures. He won't be able to breathe deeply for a while and because he smokes, that's going to be even harder. I hope he gets better soon.

Godspeed on your recovery, captain.

[FizzyLogician]

James, I hope someone can pass on our well-wishes to you. I'm so sorry to hear about your accident. I know how painful sternal fractures can be. Please rest and take care of yourself.

[adrianmay]

Oh James! My poor man! I'm glad he didn't crack his noggin on anything. He's already done that. Geeze, what kind of a racket must that have been with a 200lb. man falling down the stairs. If the woman was home, she must have been terrified. My poor baby. Clumsy oaf.

[cockney]

This sounds terribly painful. Something akin to a broken rib in that you can't set it and it makes many simple actions difficult and painful. Sending you some good energy, James, in hopes of a quick and complete recovery.

[slfriend79]

Poor James, I hope he feels better soon.

[eolise]

Oh dear, how painful must that be... Never heard that the sternum could break, I even had to look the word up!
I hope he will recover as soon as possible. (May I please add I had to laugh at AM's 'clumsy oaf' as I was thinking pretty much the same?)

[rx7]

This happened the same day i re-injured my back! Do get well soon, james.

[devil-may-care]

Poor James! That must have been one hell of a fall!

Take care of yourself, James. Plenty of rest and follow the doctor's orders.

[meimichan]

Captain Slow, please stop falling down and hurting yourself. You're worrying us. Plus I don't like it when anyone's in that much pain.

Hope you make a speedy recovery. And take it easy!


_{I've fallen down the stairs a few times...worst I ever gave myself was a fractured collarbone. Oh wait, forgot about the sprained foot. Call it a draw? Broken sternum beats both of those, holy crap.}

[TheDaisy]

Sheeesh....and he still went to a filming, with an injury like that?

I hope you're going to rest up from now on, James! Hope you feel better soon.

[pie]

Oh dear! That sounds really painful. Hope he feels better soon!

(I would say clumsy oaf if he was drunk at the time. ;D)

[trustme]

Poor James, get better soon. Consider stocking up on vitamin C, as this would be a bad time to get Jeremy's cold (that he hasn't mentioned *much*). Sneezing and coughing don't mix well with a crunched-up sternum.

[jmsquared]

Feb 16, 2012 5:44:27 GMT @pie said:

Oh dear! That sounds really painful. Hope he feels better soon!

(I would say clumsy oaf if he was drunk at the time. ;D)

I did wonder straight away if alcohol was involved! That's probably very uncharitable of me. *slaps own wrist*
Hope he recovers soon from that very painful injury.

[ambergris]

Poor James. That's really scary. I hope he gets time and space to rest and recover.

[Jacksgirl]

My mouth opened in shock when i read. James if you read(wishful thinking i know but still lol) jokes aside,please take care James&get well soon&get PLENTY of rest once you recover.

[jacqui]

Ouch! probably wouldn't have happened without the stair carpet - should have bought another bike

Get well soon - no coughing, no sneezing, no laughing, no........ well anything really - just bed rest for you!

take care

[morganstarr89]

I just posted in the naughty corner about this, but, as this is here - ill do it again.

Get well soon Captain. I really hope that he was drunk when he did it so that he didn't feel the pain as much! And I hope he wasn't all alone in his house! :0 could you imagine laying there? Pawing for the phone? Sometimes that man worries me.

At least it was just the Sternum and nothing else. I can't deal with James injuries, breaks my heart!

Speedy recovery. Please. Love. Xxx

[Mayfayre]

Richard managed a high speed crash that nearly killed him, Jeremy got a lorry's gear knob up his backside, James falls down his own stairs, then can't even laugh about it because it hurts too much! Where's the street cred in that??

Get well soon, James, then you can laugh again!

[kadett007]

Oh dear, poor James!! That has got to hurt a lot, poor thing!
My heart stopped beating for a second there...
That must have ben terrifying for him!
Lots of love! x

[eshalda]

Poor James, Iwonder if he was dosed up on painkillers. I think a broken sternum is similar to a broken rib, there is nothing you can do to help it heal, except time and care. I really hope he does take a lot of care and gets mended soon.

[antonia]

My OH broke his sternum's.Once when his sister pushed him down the stairs and the other when he fell down the stairs(that fall scored a 10/10 for form.0/10 for bad landing).
As Eshalda said the only thing you can do is strap it and let it heal.

Get well James and mind the stairs in future.

[jacqui]

If he'd been drunk he may not have hurt himself so badly???

(Speaking from experience of seeing my sister fall down a cellar hole - slightly worse for wear after a few sherries - get up and walk away unscathed!)

Just a thought for future reference

[dit]

Concerned by the references to James being in obvious pain and having to recover during filming, I sent a polite enquiry to Fiona at his agents at lunchtime. I mentioned the JMB, hope no-one minds. This is what I wrote:

I've heard from someone who went to yesterday's recording of Top Gear that James has fallen downstairs and has broken his sternum. That's a nasty injury.

The response on the fansite that I use is of great concern for James. Obviously we don't need any details, but I wondered whether it's possible for you to let us know how he's getting on, either by a message that I could post on the site (it's the James May Board; the vast majority of us are sane and sensible!) or (more likely) by putting up something on Twitter?

It goes without saying that I hope you'll pass on every good wish to James for a speedy and relatively pain-free recovery!

Just after 3pm I received this reply.

Thanks for the email. James is fine, yes a bit sore but healing well and the painkillers are helping.

Best wishes,
Fiona


It was kind of her to reply so quickly. Her message suggests that his injuries hopefully weren't the worst they could have been, but I'm sure he'll be sore for a good while.

[TheDaisy]

That was nice of her to get back to you so speedily. Good to know he's doing okay as well.

[bee]

Best wishes for a speedy recovery to James. Well done dit for getting that reply from Fiona. Was rather concerned for him. Sending healing vibes in the Hammersmith direction.

[morganstarr89]

Aww, that's sweet! She's probably sitting in her office going "James, your fan girls are off again!"

[mightybabs]

Feb 16, 2012 17:24:13 GMT dit said:

Concerned by the references to James being in obvious pain and having to recover during filming, I sent a polite enquiry to Fiona at his agents at lunchtime.

Thank you, Dit, for taking the time to contact Fiona to convey our good wishes.

[ElerVim]

Yes.. thank you Dit for checking up on James and making our concerns known. That was very thoughtful.

[jasmine]

I hope he gets well soon - that must be agony