A SUFFOLK woman has spoken of the moment she feared she would die when she was crushed under her own car.Lois Bridgeman, 44, of Oak Hill, Hollesley, said it is a miracle she is still alive after the traumatic 40-minute ordeal which left her screaming in agony.

A SUFFOLK woman has spoken of the moment she feared she would die when she was crushed under her own car.

Lois Bridgeman, 44, of Oak Hill, Hollesley, said it is a miracle she is still alive after the traumatic 40-minute ordeal which left her screaming in agony.

Reliving the distressing incident for the first time, the mum-of-four said she was filling in on her daughter's paper round in the village on Saturday morning when disaster struck.

Her Vauxhall Zafira, which she had parked up in Mallard Way, began rolling down a slope towards a bungalow.

Desperate to prevent a collision, Mrs Bridgeman dashed in front of the people carrier in an attempt to stop it.

However things went badly wrong and she ended up being subjected to agonising pain as the vehicle ploughed her down.

She was left lying in a flowerbed pinned to the ground with the front wheel crushing her left thigh.

“I thought I would die,” she said.

“Things flashed through my head and the pain was excruciating - it was so heavy.

“It all happened in a split-second.

“I screamed so loud. I'm not sure where I found that voice from but boy did I shout.”

Residents in the street were alerted to the situation by Mrs Bridgeman's screams and contacted emergency services.

Roger Bexley, 52, of Mallard Way, said: “She was obviously in a lot of pain but thank goodness she was on soft ground. If it had happened on the path it would have been different.”

Firefighters used specialist equipment to jack the car up and an inflated air bag helped to create enough space to free Mrs Bridgeman and she was taken by ambulance to Ipswich Hospital for treatment.

Amazingly she was released from hospital the same day, escaping with nothing more serious than a badly bruised thigh.

Mrs Bridgeman said she will now take the vehicle to the garage to have it checked over as she is certain the handbrake was on when she left the car.

“The first I knew of the car moving was when the car alarm went off.

“I'm 100 per cent sure I put the handbrake on.

“I can only think that it came off by itself and the lever triggered the alarm sensors when it moved.”

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