Antonio reveals recurring crash nightmare eight months after life-threatening Ferrari accident

Michail Antonio has revealed he is haunted by a recurring nightmare of his near-fatal car crash, more than eight months after the December 2024 accident that came close to ending his life.

The 36-year-old forward, who has since joined Championship side Watford following his departure from West Ham United, crashed his Ferrari into a tree in Epping Forest and suffered a severely broken leg. Speaking to The Telegraph, Antonio described the dream that continues to disturb his sleep.

“I’m driving on the road, and then a van swerves in front of me, and I swerve the van, then I jump out of my sleep,” Antonio said. “And that’s the only part that’s come to me. But I don’t know if that’s true or not because it could just be a nightmare. So that’s why I’ve not really come out and told anybody else about it.”

Antonio has previously confirmed he has no memory of the crash itself — a fact that has created an unusual emotional distance between him and his family, who witnessed the aftermath firsthand.

“As much as it happened to me, I didn’t really live it because I don’t remember it,” he said. “My family lived it more than me because I didn’t actually get to experience it. They saw the car crash, had to go to the hospital and see me lying there. I don’t remember being in the hospital. So it’s my family telling me how I was when I was there. It’s so difficult to sometimes speak to them because they have such a vivid memory of it, and I don’t.”

After his West Ham contract expired in the summer of 2025, Antonio completed a brief spell in Qatar with Al-Sailiya — a move that came just days after the country was struck by Iranian missiles — before trials with Leicester City and Brentford failed to produce a deal. He eventually signed for Watford, where he is working his way back to match fitness.

The experience has reshaped his outlook on life. “I had so many things that I had to do, but I kept pushing them down the line because I was like, ‘I can do that later’,” he said. “Since the car crash, I realised later is not always guaranteed. And later could be too late.”

Antonio has yet to make his Watford debut, having been named among the substitutes in last week’s 2-1 defeat to Stoke City.