Sir Richard Branson was injured after crashing his bike during a cycling challenge this week, and he's crediting his bike helmet for saving his life.
The Virgin Group owner first spoke of the incident on Instagram on Nov. 9, telling his followers he was "recovering well from a colossal cycling crash."
"Thankfully we're ok, but some big bumps and bruises!," the 71-year-old said of himself and pal Felix Stellmaszek, who was riding ahead of Richard.
"We were coming down the hill, we had to brake pretty hard, there was a van in front of us. Richard in a very nice and gentle manner said to me, 'My brakes are failing!' Next thing I know he jumped on my bike, we both crashed," Felix said in the Instagram video, posted to Richard's social media. He then joked of his billionaire pal, "I've never had someone push me off the road and apologize in advance. It was very gentle and kind of him, I've got to say."
Richard spoke about the accident more at length on his blog.
"I was navigating a steep corner, with a massive cliff drop to my left, a car coming up the hill, and my fellow Striver, Felix Stellmaszek, in front of me passing the car. I pulled on both of my brakes, but they didn't respond. I was going faster and faster, with my options being to drop off the cliff, hit the car, or potentially run into Felix," Richard wrote. "I gripped both brakes as tight as I could (later learning I should have tried taking one hand off the brake and then squeezing it again), but they didn't work. I cried out to Felix a warning – 'brakes not working!' – but he had no chance of getting out of the way. We crashed – hard."
The "Shark Tank" star added, "There is no question that wearing helmets saved our lives – not the first time that has been the case."
In the aftermath of the incident, both men went to the hospital to get checked out.
"I've got some severe cuts and bruises on my elbow, an extraordinarily big bump on my hip and a massive hematoma on my leg. But it could have been so much worse," he said. "… It is incredible how adrenaline kicks in when you are injured – it was only after getting home and lying down that my injuries really started to throb. I'm now sitting with my feet up, with ice packs on my injuries, which are starting to go down. Felix is doing well too."