{"id":3469,"date":"2025-05-25T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/?p=3469"},"modified":"2025-05-28T21:34:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T21:34:10","slug":"it-was-a-normal-drive-then-teenagers-going-100mph-nearly-killed-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/25\/it-was-a-normal-drive-then-teenagers-going-100mph-nearly-killed-me\/","title":{"rendered":"It was a normal drive \u2013 then teenagers going 100mph nearly killed me"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t\t\"BILLY\t<\/div>
I was in a coma for two weeks (Picture: Mark D Fuller)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I briefly woke up from a coma in the ICU and heard two nurses discussing something about the World Trade Centre and a plane<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Then everything went hazy and I passed out again.  <\/p>\n

When I finally woke up, I was told I was at Central Middlesex Hospital and I\u2019d missed one of the biggest moments in recent history \u2013 because I almost died. <\/p>\n

Nine days earlier, on September 2, 2001, I\u2019d put on the first ever gig by British rock band The Darkness<\/a> at the club night I used to run in Kings Cross. I\u2019d organised it as I knew their guitarist Dan Hawkins \u2013 I was simply putting my mate’s new band on as a favour.<\/p>\n

I was driving home to Staines in my 1968 Morris Minor when, at 4:44am, my mate James and I were hit head-on at 99mph by teen joyriders being chased by police.<\/p>\n

I was in a coma for two weeks. <\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Billy\t<\/div>
It\u2019s a miracle we survived (Picture: Richard Brown)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Luckily for us, not only were the police already there, there was a fire station nearby and we were cut out of the car in four minutes. I was told by doctors that if they hadn’t been so quick, we would have died.<\/p>\n

We were literally bleeding to death in a car that resembled a crushed bean can.<\/p>\n

We were rushed to hospital and both put on life support. We had broken almost every bone and both had serious head injuries.<\/p>\n

Initially, they thought they might have to amputate my right arm and right leg, but luckily I got to keep both. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a miracle we survived. In fact, my wife Helen was told to prepare for the worst \u2013 but James and I pulled through. <\/p>\n

\n
Comment now<\/title><span class=\"metro-comment-cta__text\">Have you or someone you know had a near-death experience? Have your say below<\/span><\/span><a class=\"metro-comment-cta__button\" href=\"#metro-comments-container\">Comment Now<\/a><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>We were both in hospital for six months and I had more than 80 hours of operations. The first to save my leg took eight hours.   <\/p>\n<p>Even The Darkness came in and visited me in hospital but I can\u2019t remember it \u2013 I wish I could, but I\u2019ve got huge amounts of amnesia both before and after the crash. I do have a vivid memory of screaming in pain during my first physio though.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t get any flashbacks. My brain saved me from <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2019\/02\/01\/five-people-open-up-about-what-its-like-to-experience-ptsd-8420399\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2019\/02\/01\/five-people-open-up-about-what-its-like-to-experience-ptsd-8420399\/\">PTSD<\/a> by immediately erasing the crash, my rescue, and being in the ICU. <\/p>\n<p>My wife and brother went through it, not me. They still have nightmares to this day.<\/p>\n<p>I was out of action for a year and was lucky not just to have support from family and friends, but The Musicians\u2019 Union too. I was signed to Sony as a solo artist at the time, having created and written the songs for <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/sophie-ellis-bextor\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/sophie-ellis-bextor\/\">Sophie Ellis-Bextor<\/a>\u2019s band theaudience in 1996.  <\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"485\" src=\"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SEI_252587620-52fa.jpg\" class=\"article-image wp-image-23219356\" alt=\"BILLY REEVES Debut solo LP SAC 965 ???NOSTALGIA OF THE FUTURE??? THE 1986 ORIGINAL CAST RECORDING Red vinyl\/pink vinyl\/CD via Last Night From Glasgow, due March 2023 Listen: soundcloud.com\/reevesok\/brnotf ???Incomparable??? Allan Jones, writer, erstwhile ed. of Uncut magazine ???D.I.Y. Pop hero??? John Earls, Classic Pop magazine ???the best English lyricist??? James Dean Bradfield, Manics ???a good listener sometimes makes a good writer??? Gideon Coe, BBC 6Music ??? ???a kind and quirky presence in my life??? Sophie Ellis-Bextor, pop star and TV personality Right now these are the good old days of the future. Here???s some prescient songs from the past that are now up-to-date but will be out of date soon and therefore will soon come back into fashion. I predict we???ll all be nostalgic for today when it???s the future as these are the good old days of the future. Do you remember the past? We weren???t nostalgic for the past in the past, we were looking forward to the future. I???m a bit frightened of the future, me. I???m not very nice btw. Anyway, The album features him out of The Darkness Justin Hawkins albeit briefly, Sadie M??mo who is a bit of an expert at this sort of thing, Rhodri Marsden from the recent incarnation of Billy???s favourite 1980s group Microdisney, long-time chum Crayola Lectern (the Worthing Wonder), Gavin Laird of the mighty Telstar Ponies, Japanese jazz guitarist and coastal mushroom farmer Osamu Yano and Pete ???Norwich??? Morgan of no-man\/Tim Bowness fame. And, yes, I am singing. This won???t be for you if you don???t like Tony Newley. The album is preceded by a 10??? square vinyl 45 rpm single in old gold vinyl of the song ???Golden Days???. There is a clean version available for broadcast.\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t<\/div><figcaption>I remain a musician at heart (Picture: Mark D Fuller)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As I was incapable of playing any instruments, I couldn\u2019t earn a living and the Musician\u2019s Union gave me essential financial support, since it took years for compensation from the accident to come through. <\/p>\n<p>But my career took a new turn. <\/p>\n<p>Once my injuries had healed enough, a friend of mine, BBC Radio London\u2019s Gary Crowley, invited me to go onto his show to talk about the latest music releases. I\u2019d done stuff like that before as a guest on shows and I really enjoyed it.  <\/p>\n<p>Gary said I was a natural and encouraged me to do a post-grad degree in Broadcast Journalism, which I did in 2004 at the University of Westminster. After that, I got a job producing music programmes at the station. I\u2019m now the station\u2019s travel presenter and Brentford FC commentator and I love my job.<\/p>\n<p>But I remain a musician at heart.  <\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\" data-ico=\"factbox_article\" data-track-module=\"factbox_article\">\n<h2 class=\"factbox-title\">\n\t\t\t\tWhen Lord God Almighty Reads The News\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<div class=\"factbox-content\">\n<p>\u2018When The Lord God Almighty Reads The News\u2019 by Billy Reeves is out on <a href=\"https:\/\/shop.lastnightfromglasgow.com\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/shop.lastnightfromglasgow.com\/\">Last Night From Glasgow<\/a> on 6 June.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>So it was serendipitous that during a clear-out in the <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2021\/03\/23\/lockdown-the-uks-covid-timeline-from-pubs-closing-to-stockpiling-14283966\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2021\/03\/23\/lockdown-the-uks-covid-timeline-from-pubs-closing-to-stockpiling-14283966\/\">Covid lockdowns<\/a>, my family found The Box \u2013 a gruesome keepsake of the night of the crash, containing photos, police statements, and court reports \u2013 and asked if I\u2019d like to see it.  <\/p>\n<p>It was the first time I cried over the whole event.  <\/p>\n<p>I’ve still not seen the photos of my beautiful car, crumpled to nothing, and I don\u2019t want to \u2013 everything else inside the box was bad enough. But among the paperwork, there were two blood-splattered mini-discs that had been in the car.    <\/p>\n<p>One wouldn\u2019t play, but the other was full of demo songs with me singing. I had no idea where I\u2019d recorded or what they were about, bar vaguely being about love and capitalism.  <\/p>\n<p>Then last year, my old friend <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nigelbutlermusic.com%2F&data=05%7C02%7CJess.Austin%40metro.co.uk%7Ce665334b9f6c455251ab08dd8889b763%7C0f3a4c644dc54a768d4152d85ca158a5%7C0%7C0%7C638816847240099738%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=aG1s2bTSIhM4avUMXyowyyAMqsDl7nGGYvYniuHoFik%3D&reserved=0\">Nigel Butler<\/a>, who\u2019s now a top record producer, agreed to work on them. I was chuffed since he\u2019s worked with everyone, from One Direction to Aerosmith.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Generation Game\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/loo06jEsnXc?list=OLAK5uy_m-iKNCvgpTOleVYuTw9SQW0bnuf0iyjB8\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>He isolated my vocals and turned it into a solo album called \u2018When Lord God Almighty Reads The News\u2019, which is out on green vinyl on June 6, the day before my 60th birthday. <\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m in esteemed company. Scottish indie label<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FLast_Night_From_Glasgow&data=05%7C02%7CJess.Austin%40metro.co.uk%7Ce665334b9f6c455251ab08dd8889b763%7C0f3a4c644dc54a768d4152d85ca158a5%7C0%7C0%7C638816847240112879%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=G2IQr8CkQ6eWlTnorHXbuWlZ2BqaXwq5VY0%2B3Kao4vE%3D&reserved=0\"> Last Night From Glasgow<\/a>, who just released an LP by Peter Capaldi, are putting it out. <\/p>\n<p>So far, the singles have had lots of play on BBC 6 Music but it\u2019s strange to hear yourself, from the past, singing songs you don\u2019t remember writing. People are often filling in the gaps for me before and after the crash, as I don\u2019t remember much of 2001 at all.  <\/p>\n<p>After all, memory is a shared experience and songwriting is a precious part of that \u2013 these songs are almost a time capsule from that year.   <\/p>\n<p>But I\u2019m so proud of this record.  <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s proof good things can come out of the worst situations and that you\u2019ve got to cherish life.  <\/p>\n<p>These songs and I both survived that crash \u2013 I know I\u2019m lucky to be alive. So I absolutely cherish every moment. <\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Do you have a story you\u2019d like to share? Get in touch by emailing <a href=\"mailto:jess.austin@metro.co.uk\">jess.austin@metro.co.uk<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Share your views in the comments below.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I was in a coma for two weeks (Picture: Mark D Fuller) I briefly woke up from a coma in the ICU and heard two nurses discussing something about the World Trade Centre and a plane. Then everything went hazy and I passed out again.   When I finally woke up, I was told I was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3469"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3469"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3475,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3469\/revisions\/3475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}