‘I’m lucky to be alive’: BBC cameraman, 52, ‘took a few blows to the brain and chest’ in Ukraine car crash with Clive Myrie
- Nick Sturdee named as cameraman in Ukraine car crash with Clive Myrie
- The warzone journalist spent three weeks unconscious in intensive care in June
- A tyre exploded, causing the car to turn over four times before crashing
- Sturdee had been in Ukraine since war broke out in February, making three films
A BBC cameraman has said he is lucky to be alive after the car he was riding with Clive Myrie in Ukraine crashed.
Nick Sturdee, 52, was out filming for a documentary with the presenter in the armoured vehicle in June, before it turned over four times and crashed into a tree, south of Sumy in Ukraine.
Myrie was said to have hurt his head, while Sturdee suffered brain and chest injuries, spent three weeks unconscious in intensive care and had his spleen removed.
The other passengers in the car were said to be relatively unscathed and Sturdee is expected to make a good recovery, reported The Times.
Nick Sturdee (pictured), 52, has been named as the filmmaker in a car crash with BBC presenter Clive Myrie in Ukraine in June
Sturdee, a seasoned warzone journalist, was flown back to Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and suffered from post-traumatic amnesia, meaning he does not remember the crash.
He had been in Ukraine since war broke out in February and has made three films since.
Sturdee said on Twitter: ‘Well I’ve been in hospital on and off for 2 months after our armoured vehicle’s tyre exploded under me south of Sumy in #Ukraine in early June – on a shoot.
Nick Sturdee posted the news on Twitter
‘It flipped 3 or 4 times and my window whacked against a tree.
‘I took a few blows to my brain and chest and was lucky to be alive. Suffering from Post Traumatic Amnesia (among other things).’
The Russian-speaking journalist has worked on documentaries for BBC panorama and has covered the Russian conflict in Ukraine.
The BBC understands the collision did not happen as the result of military action.
Clive Myrie, BBC presenter, wearing a Press vest on the BBC earlier this year as he went to Ukraine
Myrie, 57, took shelter underground after the building he was reporting from in Ukraine was shaken by nearby missile fire back in February.
He has not commented on the incident.
The BBC said last month: ‘A BBC team in Ukraine was involved in a road traffic accident in early June. There is currently no evidence that this was in any way connected to military action.
‘One member of the team remains in hospital and the BBC is providing support to them and their family.’
A journalist died in April after a Russian missile destroyed her flat during the UN chief’s visit to Kyiv.
The body of producer Vira Hyrych, who worked for US-funded Radio Liberty, was recovered from the rubble.
Clive Myrie in the Royal Box on Centre Court Wimbledon Tennis Championships on July 8
Ukrainian officials said the mother of one, 54, was getting ready for bed when the ballistic missile hit the building , shortly after UN secretary general Antonio Guterres labelled Russia’s invasion ‘evil and absurd’ in a nearby press conference with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski, 55, an Irish citizen based in London, and Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra ‘Sasha’ Kuvshynova, 24, were covering Russian’s invasion of Ukraine when their vehicle was hit in Horenka, outside of Kyiv, back in March.
Zakrzewski and Kuvshynova were traveling in the same vehicle as 39-year-old British journalist Benjamin Hall, who also works for Fox News, and was injured in the attack.
‘It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that we share the news this morning regarding our beloved cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski,’ Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott wrote in an email to staff.
Sergey Nikiforov, spokesman for President Zelensky of Ukraine being interviewed by host Clive Myrie via video link in April
‘Pierre was killed in Horenka, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine. Pierre was with Benjamin Hall yesterday newsgathering when their vehicle was struck by incoming fire.’
Kuvshynova’s death was confirmed by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.
Stuart Ramsay, a Sky News journalist, announced he was shot in an ambush by a Russian hit squad.
Ramsay, recalling the terrifying attack for Sky News, detailed the moment the eerie quiet was pierced by the sound of a small explosion that rocked the car.
‘Bullets cascaded through the whole of the car, tracers, bullet flashes, windscreen glass, plastic seats, the steering wheel, and dashboard had disintegrated,’ he wrote.
‘I do recall wondering if my death was going to be painful. And then I was hit in the lower back. ‘I’ve been hit’, I shouted. But what amazed me was that it didn’t hurt that bad. It was more like being punched, really.’
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