Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay had a “brutal week” leading up to Father’s Day after a bicycle crash left him in need of trauma surgery.
The British star took to social media on Sunday, local time, telling fans he had been in an accident while biking in the US state of Connecticut early last week, and was still in pain and recovering.
In the one-minute clip, Ramsay showed massive bruising on one side of his torso — with its dark purple colour indicating the wound was fresh and unhealed — and stressed the need to wear a helmet at all times.
“This week unfortunately I had a really bad accident, and it really shook me. Honestly, I’m lucky to be here,” he said.
“Those incredible trauma surgeons, doctors, nurses, who looked after me this week, they were amazing but honestly you’ve got to wear a helmet.
“I don’t care how short the journey is, I don’t care [about] the fact that these helmets cost money, but they’re crucial. Even with the kids, or a short journey.”
Ramsay clarified in a separate Instagram post he had escaped major injury including any fractures, largely due to having had a helmet on.
The 57-year-old also shared before-and-after images showing parts of his helmet broken and clothing ripped.
“Now, I’m lucky to be standing here. I’m in pain, it’s been a brutal week, and I’m sort of getting through it,” he said.
While renowned as one of the biggest names in the culinary world, Ramsay is also an accomplished triathlete and has completed several Ironman races.
He finished a full Ironman, regarded as one of the world’s most challenging athletic competitions, in 2013 with a finish time of just over 14 hours, and attempted it again two years later.
Ramsay has also done shorter versions of the challenge, like the Ironman 70.3 Florida in 2012, along with regularly running marathons in London.
The MasterChef and Hell’s Kitchen star runs 58 restaurants around the world as of this year, and hosts reality TV competition series Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars.
