You may know that Brad Ledford was among the 22 men cast for Taylor Frankie Paul‘s season of The Bachelorette before it got canceled last month due to her 2023 domestic violence video with ex-boyfriend/baby daddy Dakota Mortensen surfacing amid their dispute scandal. But what you may not have known? He also had a shocking past!
The 29-year-old cowboy had been involved in the car accident that paralyzed former North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn — and he is now opening up about what happened on the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast on Tuesday. He started by saying:
“It’s tough for me because this was an accident that I was in 12 years ago, so I was 17 years old. So, a very long time ago, but definitely impactful and definitely a big piece of my life. I wish that publications wouldn’t be grabbing onto something that’s so old and from my childhood.”
Related: Bachelorette Alum Arrested AGAIN Over Alleged 2024 Assault
However, Brad went into the story of the incident anyway. The former contestant explained he was driving with his “childhood friend” Madison, who was 18 years old at the time, from Florida to North Carolina. During the drive, he briefly “nodded off” and woke up to the vehicle being “right beside the interstate in the grass.” He continued:
“I started slowing down the car, realizing what was going on. We ended up striking a jersey barrier a little further down the road. Came to a stop and my first thought in my head was, ‘Oh, my gosh, we were just in a car accident.’”
Brad didn’t think anything “really serious” happened until he checked on Madison and “realized that he was knocked out and unconscious.” The second he realized how bad things were, he sprang into action:
“I was like, ‘OK, this is a bit more serious.’ While I’m doing that, I’m feeling something hot on my arm and I realized that the whole backseat of the car was on fire. And so I was like, ‘OK, this got a lot more real.’ I immediately went to getting us out of the situation. Trying to find a way out of the car, the best way ended up being through his window. So, went out his window, came back in, unbuckled Madison, pulled him out. A bystander came up that had seen everything going on, helped me carry him a couple hundred yards away from the car.”
How scary!
When EMS arrived at the scene, Brad still didn’t know “exactly how serious the situation was” other than that his “best friend” was unconscious. The reality hit him once the now-30-year-old Republican went to the hospital, and he began the “long road” of “recovery.” Brad said:
“He ended up being paralyzed from the waist down. Now he’s in the political world and everything and I’m not into politics. I don’t necessarily share his views and whatnot, my views are on my page and that’s about that. But I’m not into politics and whatnot. But I did see him go through a lot when we were kids. He was 18 years old when he started that journey, so I went through a lot with him, adapting to a new life and recovery and going through surgeries and whatnot.”
Brad shared that he “definitely learned a lot about life” from the accident, adding:
“I think anybody that goes through something like that with a friend, just wants the best from them. Doesn’t matter what kind of politics you’re into, right?”
Notably, Madison and Brad had a falling out years ago over the incident. The politician claimed that his pal left him “in a car to die in a fiery tomb” during a 2017 speech at Patrick Henry College:
“He runs to safety deep in the woods and just leaves me in a burning car as the flames start to lick my legs and curl up and burn my left side.”
Brad denied the accusation to The Washington Post at the time, insisting he “pulled him out of the car the second that I was able to get out of the car.” Despite those claims, Madison ended up admitting he had “no memory from the accident” in a sworn deposition during an insurance battle over the accident that same year.
The pair did not speak for years afterward, but Brad told People in 2021 that they had made amends. And we guess they’re still on good terms to this day. Watch the podcast episode (below):
[Image via Brad Ledford/Instagram, MEGA/WENN, Hulu/YouTube]
