Richard Branson has shared a photo of his injuries after hitting a pothole and flying off his bike in Virgin Gorda.
The billionaire Virgin founder said he ‘crashed hard’ in the cycling accident – but said luckily he managed to avoid breaking any bones.
He revealed he has suffered a hematoma on his hip and a ‘nasty cut elbow’ – and it’s not the first time he’s had a cycling accident.
In 2021 he flew off his bike and crashed onto a hard concrete road in a ‘colossal’ bicycle crash after his brakes failed while taking part in an endurance charity race across the British Virgin Islands. And in 2016 he cracked his cheek and tore several ligaments while riding in the Virgin Strive challenge in Leverick Bay.
Daredevil Branson posted an image of the aftermath of his latest accident on Instagram and wrote: ‘Took quite a big tumble while cycling in Virgin Gorda a little while ago!
‘I hit a pothole and crashed hard, resulting in another hematoma on my hip and a nasty cut elbow, but amazingly nothing broken.
‘We were cycling with Alex Wilson, who fell after me, but thankfully he was ok as well.
Richard Branson has shared an image of his injuries on Instagram after a cycling accident
‘I’m counting myself very lucky, and thankful for keeping myself active and healthy.
‘After all, the brave may not live forever but the cautious do not live at all!’
More than a thousand followers sent him messages of support following the social media post yesterday.
He was described by his supporters as ‘brave’ and ‘amazing’ as some warned him to be careful and passed on get well soon wishes.
And this is not the first cycling smash Branson has had. In 2021 he suffered a ‘colossal’ bicycle crash after his brakes failed while taking part in an endurance charity race across the British Virgin Islands.
He flew off his bike and crashed onto the hard concrete road on the island of Tortola.
At the time he feared he had broken his back after colliding with another rider during day two of the Strive BVI event – which sees fitness fanatics complete a series of gruelling water and land-based challenges over the course of several days.
Following the 2021 incident he had to be treated for severe cuts and bruises on his elbow, an ‘extraordinarily big bump’ on his hip and a ‘massive’ hematoma on his leg.
British billionaire Sir Richard Branson suffered a ‘colossal’ bike crash during a charity event on the British Virgin Islands in 2021 (Pictured: Sir Richard gives thumbs up as he gets in van to be taken to hospital)
The Virgin founder said he had to be treated for severe cuts and bruises on his elbow, an ‘extraordinarily big bump’ on his hip (pictured) and a ‘massive’ hematoma on his leg in 2021
The billionaire feared he had broken his back after colliding with another rider (Pictured moments after 2021 collision)
In a blog post on his Virgin website, the father-of-three had said there was ‘no question’ that wearing a helmet saved his life.
The entrepreneur had also shared photos from moments after the crash which showed him laying on his back next to fellow rider Felix Stellmaszek.
In another shot the tycoon was seen smiling with his thumb up while holding an ice pack, while pictured getting into the van which took him to the Virgin Gorda hospital.
Meanwhile other snaps showed a huge, bloodied lump on his left hip and a heavily bruised and scratched arm through his torn cycling shirt.
And in 2016, he cracked his cheek and tore several ligaments while riding in the Virgin Strive challenge in Leverick Bay.
He said at the time: ‘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.
‘I went flying head-first towards the concrete road, but fortunately my shoulder and cheek took the brunt of the impact, and I was wearing a helmet that saved my life.’
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.’
In 2016, Sir Richard cracked his cheek and tore several ligaments while riding in the Virgin Strive challenge in Leverick Bay, forcing him to have to drink tea through a straw (Pictured following 2016 crash)
Richard Branson has had a number of cycling accidents over the years (stock image)
In a blog post in 2016 Sir Richard said had experienced various injuries and ‘many brushes with death’ over the years.
In February that year he been bitten by stingrays while swimming with dozens of the ‘sharks’ in the Cayman Islands.
During the same trip he also smashed his head into a glass door while out shopping – and he had knocked teeth out twice while playing tennis over the previous year.
In 1985, his speedboat famously capsized in high seas about 140 miles from the Isles of Sicily as he tried to set a record for the fastest-ever Atlantic crossing.
In fact the tycoon has had so many near death experiences that he listed all of them in his second autobiography.
In Finding My Virginity, Sir Richard listed all of his skirmishes with death in an appendix entitled: 75 close shaves.
They include hitting his head while bungee jumping at Victoria Falls in 2004 and narrowly missing stepping on a live track with 25,000 volts charged above, while inspecting Virgin’s new tilting trains in England in 2001.
In 1976 he flew a microlight aircraft ‘by mistake’ when it accidentally took off as he sat in it – only for his instructor to die in an accident the next day.
And in 1980, he stubbed his toe while walking around his private Necker Island and suddenly fell down a gaping gorge before being pulled up by a friend and saved from the jagged rocks below.
