The hero surgeon who saved Andrew Flintoff's face: Doctor reveals how star was pieced back together 'like a jigsaw' after suffering facial injuries in 'top five' worst he'd ever seen
The hero surgeon who saved Andrew Flintoff's face in a gruelling five-hour operation has revealed it was like putting a 'jigsaw puzzle' back together - except the pieces were not there.
Mr Jahrad Haq, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, was tasked with operating on the England cricket legend after he was airlifted to St George's Hospital in Tooting, south London, following his horror crash in December 2022.
Flintoff, 47, was filming for BBC TV show Top Gear when the Morgan Super 3 three-wheeled sports car he was driving flipped over, dragging him across the tarmac of Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey.
The Ashes hero has spoken candidly about the trauma of the crash - including how he wished he'd died in the immediate aftermath amid fears he would be left without a face when he was dragged along the runway nose down for 50 metres.
The grisly details, including how Flintoff's wounds were filled with 'grit' and 'dirt', have been laid bare by Flintoff and his heroic surgeon who speak at length about the crash for the first time in a Disney+ documentary.
Mr Haq, an experienced surgeon who has worked in 'several world renowned units', described Flintoff's injuries as among the worst he had ever seen in two decades of working in reconstructive surgery.
Speaking on the 'Flintoff' documentary, he said: 'I was on call that day and received a phone call from the A and E consultant. A lot of the injuries we have are managed at a more junior level before escalating to the consultant, so I knew something was up.
'His injuries overall, for the past 20 years of seeing maxillofacial trauma, I'd probably put in the top five.
Mr Jahrad Haq (right) was the hero surgeon who operated on Flintoff after the horror crash
Flintoff (pictured 2022) was airlifted to St George's Hospital in Tooting after the crash in Surrey
The former England cricket star turned TV presenter lost a significant portion of his lips
'He had a mixture of hard tissue and soft tissue injuries, broken teeth, lost teeth, elements of the upper jaw bone that were also fractured and displaced.
'His soft tissue injuries were very complex. It's very unusual that you lose soft tissue, that you lose skin, and he'd lost a really significant portion of his upper lip, the skin and some of the underlying muscle and also his lower lip.'
Mr Haq detailed how there were added complications, explaining: 'These wounds were never going to be clean wounds. He's scraped his face along the tarmac. There's going to be grit, dirt, and the initial surgery took about five hours.
'You've just got to get the anatomy back to how it was in the first place. It's like a jigsaw puzzle, and almost always all the pieces are there. In Andrew's case, they weren't.'
The 98-minute documentary shows the graphic images of a blood-soaked and battered Flintoff being delivered to hospital and of him post-op: his nose, lips and cheeks littered with stitches, eyes swollen and black.
A biography for Mr Haq reveals a wealth of experience in medicine and dentistry, having undergone 'extensive training' in 'facial aesthetic, trauma, oral/jaw deformity and craniofacial/skull base surgery'.
The surgeon has also presented his research across the globe and has travelled to Vietnam on charity surgical missions where he treated people with severe skull and facial defects.
Mr Haq is also a partner of Step by Step Surgery, which is described as 'an educational resource offering high level, hands on dissection courses in facial aesthetic, maxillofacial trauma and complex reconstructive surgery.'
Mr Haq detailed how there were added complications, explaining how there was 'grit and dirt' in Flintoff's wounds
Mr Haq is an experienced surgeon who has worked in 'world renowned units'. This is a file image of Mr Haq performing surgery which he posted on his Instagram
Flintoff has had to undergo extensive surgeries to his teeth and face since the accident
Flintoff's surgeon appeared to show he had been given a signed England shirt from the Ashes legend as he hailed the 'amazing recovery from a lovely chap with huge talent'
Flintoff, 47, shows off his healed face ahead of a new Disney + documentary
The couple, pictured back in 2014, have four children together and Rachael recalled telling their children what to expect when seeing their father in hospital for the first time
Mr Haq is among a number of people who speak on the documentary that takes an intimate look into Flintoff's stellar career and his return to the game after his life-altering car crash.
Close friends, including Michael Vaughan, James Corden and Jack Whitehall also speak on the documentary - with the latter revealing his bulimia battle after Flintoff 'bravely' shared his own eating disorder struggles.
Flintoff's wife, Rachael, also recalls the harrowing moment she came to comfort her partner in hospital, explaining: 'I've never seen someone so scared in their eyes, and he just stared at me, and I just think he was looking at me to know how bad he was.
'So to be fair, I totally pulled myself together, and I just didn't cry. I just said, it's fine. You're going to be okay. I can't believe how amazing you look.
'Before we got home, I did call the kids, and I did say to them, 'You've just got to be as strong as you've ever been. Your dad does look different at the moment. It's going to get better, but I don't want you to look shocked and horrified, because that's going to knock him.'
Flintoff remained housebound for the next seven months, only venturing out for appointments with doctors and dentists.
He has since made a remarkable return to the public eye, launching a coaching career with the help of his long-term friend Rob Key, the ECB's men's director of cricket.
Flintoff, who has now taken charge of England Lions, England and Wales' 'second-tier' team, has also returned to TV with his heartwarming Field of Dreams show which sees him take a group of Lancashire lads to India to play cricket.
