Forgotten Golden Era UK Bodybuilder – Nick’s Strength and Power

If I remember right the break from competing was due to a fall while working as a commercial electrician

I remember Frank used to write a regular article for Flex magazine called "Frankley Speaking". Or something similar. Catchy.

Wow I remember this guy… Built in the UK… From the UK…

"All was going great when one day at my job, (12th of May, 1974), my whole world came crashing down, literally. I was a leading overhead lineman (supervisor) in the overhead lines department of British Railways. I was on top of a support structure when, through no fault of my own, I fell and landed across one of the rails on the track.
I felt, and heard, my leg break. The initial pain was horrendous, but for some reason the pain subsided and I lay on the floor unable to move – I was later told by one of the surgeons that sometimes when the body suffers a serious trauma it can’t handle such severe pain and literally switches the pain off. Maybe that is so, because I wasn’t in any real pain until later.
The first thought that crossed my mind, as I was lying on the floor, was, “There goes the contest”! Crazy, huh? After the initial feelings of disappointment I thought, “What the heck, another few weeks and I will be back in the gym again, there’s always next year”. How wrong I was!
At the hospital they prepped me for surgery and, as they moved me around, that’s when the pain hit me in great waves. I have never felt pain like it and hope I never will again. The doctors heavily sedated me down for a few days after surgery and it wasn’t until I started to return to a full state of awareness that they told me the extent of my injuries. It was then that I realised that even the following year might be out, as far as contests were concerned.
It transpired that I had all but severed my left foot, only the Achilles Tendon was holding it on. I had also broken my left leg just below the knee, my left arm was in splinters from half way down my forearm to the tips of my fingers, three of my left ribs had broken and punctured my left lung – that explained the coughing and the blood coming out my mouth.
I also had a broken neck, the second and third vertebrae were fractured through – a very lucky escape. As I lay on the floor I couldn’t see properly, everything being as if in a tunnel. It turned out that I had detached retinas in both eyes, a remnant of which I still have, but on the periphery of the retina in my left eye.
Well, my year out of contests lasted for another eleven years. When I had my accident I weighed 245 pounds, when I left hospital I weighed 200 pounds. I was in hospital for six months and in casts for a further thirteen months. The months and years marched on and I had more and more bone surgery and more and more casts, on top of pins, plates and screws to keep everything together.
But, I look back at my accident with some gratitude and a sense that someone was watching over me that day. How come? When I hit the floor I landed diagonally, between two rails. My head missed one rail by about three inches and my ankle hit the other one. Had it been the other way about I would not be here now, writing my story.
Do I think that I am lucky? You bet your bottom dollar I do! No regrets and no sadness. It is no use looking back on things and saying,” What if?”. Always look for something positive out of adversity. Arnold sent a message to me some years later, when I was recovering from another serious illness, that says it all, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. How true.
After a few years it seemed to me that my bodybuilding career was over and I decided to drop my body weight. It was silly to carry heavy body weightwhen I was walking around on crutches. I went on a weight loss diet andover a period of twelve weeks I dropped my body weight from 200 pounds to 168 pounds. I stayed at that weight for five years, all the while having more andmore surgery. I had a total of twenty two orthopaedic procedures over the ten years from my accident until my rebirth into bodybuilding began."

How about a clip on Berry de Mey from the Netherlands???

Amazing video

Frank Richards used to train not far from my house in wigan

Is that Ian Mcshane?

Nick, also too He had a bad accident working I believe as a lineman or something like that and fell and broke a lot of bones as I recall. He's got a lot of metal installed. Than he came back to compete in the 80s

If I remember correctly he got stabbed while being a bouncer. I think that ended his competing. This was in muscle and fitness.

you should try to reach out to these forgotten bodybuilders (or their relatives if they have passed). I bet most of them would be happy to share photos etc, and maybe even their time for an interview

Get your hands on late 60's and 70's issues of Iron Man or Muscular Development.  You'll find a ton of information on Frank Richards!

Due to that horrific work injury, I remember Frank was always known as the only person who ever built an Olympia physique twice. What a fantastic achievement and a great role model in life as well as bodybuilding.

This guy was so resilient. In addition to the accident that nearly killed him at work, in 1987 he was stabbed in the back and arm during a gangland fight at a cafe and his right bicep was severed (one account includes him insisting that he only be given local anaesthetic at the hospital so that he could talk the doctors through the procedure of reattaching the torn bicep). He lost four pints of blood, took 147 stitches and also suffered a broken jaw.
A little more than one year later, a well-into-his-forties Richards landed just outside the top 10 at the Arnold Classic. One week later he took eighth in the Melbourne Grand Prix, and one week after that he took seventh in the World Pro Championship.
STUD.

I remember he was in a lot of Robert Kennedy’s books and magazines

Poor guy got baseball batted and stabbed several times in warrington uk it was a case of mistaken identity they were looking a doorman who was a well known bully incredibly he had just been asked to move his car and in those few minutes a gang arrived and mistook Frank who was sitting down for the bully it was a real tragedy.