James Cracknell suffered brain damage in accident

James Cracknell suffered brain damage during last week's road accident, his wife Beverley Turner has revealed.

According to the MailOnline, the Olympic rowing champion and Discovery TV adventurer could take six months to recover from the accident in which he was hit from behind on his bicycle by a truck in Arizona.

James, 38, is reportedly semi-conscious in a neuro-trauma recovery ward, but Beverley revealed that she initially feared doctors may have to turn off his life-support machine.

Beverley told the Daily Telegraph: "I'd spent years worrying that James would plunge down a crevasse in some remote wilderness, but it was a road traffic accident in the US that has left him with a fractured skull and damage to his brain."

James suffered a 'contrecoup' injury to his frontal lobe, with bleeding and swelling affecting the part that controls personality, decision-making and motivation.

Beverley said however that James's prognosis was good, and by six months he should be back to his old self.

"Only those closest to him may be able to tell a subtle difference," she said.