Jason Priestley is opening up about the terrifying racing accident that nearly cost him his life more than two decades ago.
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The Beverly Hills, 90210 star recalled the 2002 crash during the Sept. 8 episode of Michael Rosenbaum’s Inside of You podcast, describing the medical emergency that unfolded after he was airlifted to a hospital.
“I bled to death in the helicopter on the way to the hospital,” Priestley said. “I was flatlined when I landed on top of the hospital, and they restarted my heart on the roof of the hospital.”
Doctors gave Priestley several bags of O-negative blood after he arrived. His heart then stopped again as he was being taken toward the hospital elevator.
“They restarted my heart again,” he continued. “Then, I was okay after that.”
The accident happened in August 2002 while Priestley was practicing for the Indy Racing Infiniti Pro Series at Kentucky Auto Racing Speedway, according to a report at the time from Lawrence Journal-World. He lost control of his car and crashed head-first into a wall at nearly 180 mph.
Priestley said he remembers very little about the accident or its immediate aftermath. He estimated that he lost approximately three weeks of memory following the crash.
“I lost about three weeks, three and a half weeks,” the actor explained. “It was, I don’t know, my 12th or 13th concussion. I suffered three skull fractures. I was pretty shook up for a while.”
Much of what Priestley knows about that period comes from a booklet his father created while he recovered. His father documented the aftermath with photographs, including images of Priestley’s injuries.
“My dad took pictures of everything,” Priestley recalled. “Tons of pictures of my face and what had happened.”
Priestley described extensive injuries to his face, saying his head was swollen from the skull fractures.
“My nose got ripped off,” he continued. “My orbital bone and my cheekbone and my ocular mantle collapsed.”
He credited the medical staff at the University of Kentucky hospital with helping stabilize him after the crash. Priestley said his recovery lasted about three months and described himself as “super lucky” to have had people helping him through the process.
Years later, Priestley returned to the racetrack where the accident happened and met the helicopter pilots who had flown him to the hospital.
“I went back to the racetrack, actually, where it happened, and I met the helicopter pilots who flew me to the hospital because I wanted to thank them, and they looked at me like they were looking at a ghost,” Priestley remembered. “It was pretty crazy, but I thought it was super cool.”