Russell Brand Shares First Photo of Mother After Near-Fatal Crash

Russell Brand shared the first photo of his mother, 71-year-old Barbara Brand, since she suffered injuries in a near-fatal car crash that caused him to cancel a comedy tour.

On Tuesday, Brand posted a photo with his mom, thanking the U.K.‘s National Health Service for saving her life, on Instagram. He also posted an essay on his website called “NHS Saved My Mum – Is it the ‘Spirit of Our Country.”

“The NHS has symbolic value, it is this country’s soul. But it is of course more than a symbol, it is carnal as well as divine,” Brand wrote.

Brand said the three operations his mother faced after the car crash were a success, and wrote that her experience was an example of the good work the public health service does for U.K. citizens.

“Even before she passes through the delirium she sees them as her allies,” Brand wrote. “Even before she can speak, throat occupied by the fearsome ventilator she can communicate with them. And is it this spirit that grants them their shared language? Is the invisible force that keeps my Mum, not just alive but positive and loving distinct in any meaningful way from the love and devotion of these beautiful people? The spirit of this beautiful institution? The NHS is the best of us, it is our shared declaration that love is real. The National Health Service, it does so much and yet it means much more.”

In April, Brand told fans he had to cancel a comedy tour after his mother suffered “numerous life-threatening injuries” from a serious car accident.

According to The Sun, Barbara was in the back of an Audi A8 and was on her way to babysit Brand’s 18-month-old daughter Mabel.

“The chauffeur got out and fell. Russell’s mum was trapped. She had a seatbelt across her chest. She was in pain and people got her out,” a witness told the Sun. “She was in a bad way, lying on a stretcher. She had blood coming from her nose and on the back of her head. We were talking to her, trying to keep her with it.”

During an appearance on the U.K. talk show Loose Women, Brand said the other driver fled the scene and has since been arrested.

“She had terrible, terrible injuries,” Brand said in May. “Broken back, broken neck, terrible abdominal injuries… But she’s making a remarkable recovery due to her spirit and the incredible National Health Service and the people that work there, who do such phenomenal work. It’s unbelievable.”

Photo credit: Instagram/Russell Brand