Richard Branson Almost Died in a Horrible Bike Accident

Richard Branson is lucky to be alive today after injuring himself in a bike accident earlier this week.

The 66-year-old Virgin billionaire was training for the Virgin Strive Challenge while in the British Virgin Islands on Monday with two of his adult kids.

“I really thought I was going to die,” Richard wrote on his blog. “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 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 (however, perhaps they should build bike helmets that protect the side of the face too – does anyone know of one?). My bike went flying off the cliff and disappeared. We’ve since recovered the crumpled bicycle, completely destroyed. My cheek has been badly damaged and my knee, chin, shoulder and body severely cut,” he added.

Read the rest of the story now on Virgin.com and see a photo of Richard‘s bruises below.