‘The main thing is that everyone involved is safe’
A woman who narrowly escaped harm when a car crashed into her home has described the ‘shocking’ sequence of events.
Tina Ryder was working in her kitchen on Wednesday when she heard an ‘almighty bang’ and a vehicle came through the wall into a corner of the room - where she had been just moments before.
The car – driven by a woman with two young children - had come off the icy road in Fluxton, near Ottery, and become embedded in the house.
Tina said all passengers got out to safety, shaken but unhurt, just before a four-wheel drive vehicle came round the corner and went straight into the side of the crashed car.
“I heard this almighty bang and there was the wall crumbling down. It was so loud - I thought the roof was falling in. Your first instinct is to duck and I got covered in rubble,” said Tina.
“I shouted out to the woman to get out of the car and then called 999. I went out and she was still in the car with two young children. They got out and were fine - just shaken.
“I think everyone was quite lucky, really. It could have been an awful lot worse. If she had hit the window, she could have come in a lot further and there would have been shattered glass.”
Paramedics, police officers, fire crews and rapid response teams all attended the scene.
Tina said a police officer took one look at the devastation in the kitchen and said how lucky she had been.
Building control officers from East Devon District Council (EDDC) were called in to carry out emergency protection works on the house before the car could be removed.
Paul Seager, EDDC’s principal building control surveyor and manager, said: “The owners were very fortunate not to be injured despite the external kitchen wall suffering significant damage from the vehicle impact - requiring it to be carefully propped to make safe before the vehicle could be recovered and the road reopened.”
Tina said she and partner Stephen Berisford had just finished refurbishing the kitchen and face ‘significant damage costs’. She added that the main thing is that everyone involved is safe.
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