I want to thank rescuers who stopped me being strangled by my seat belt
DRIVER FEARS SHE WOULD HAVE DIED WITHOUT QUICK ACTIONS
A DRIVER has recalled the traumatic moment she woke up being slowly strangled by her seat beat after a horrific car crash.
Doreen Tipper, of Coton-in-theElms, believes she could have died if rescuers had not arrived as soon as they did to cut her free.
The 78-year-old’s Kia Venga car had overturned, leaving her trapped by her seat belt.
Mrs Tipper spent two weeks in hospital receiving tests to find out what happened at the wheel after the crash in Bath Lane, between Overseal and Moira, in late March.
It still remains a mystery why her car ended up crashing into a hedge and overturning, but she says she has been told she may have been blinded by sudden sunlight.
Praising the emer- gency service personnel who rushed to her aid, Mrs Tipper said: “I think they saved my life. I don’t know what would have happened if it had happened somewhere else [and no one came out] I would have been strangled by my seat belt.”
Now, the pensioner is hoping to track down those who helped her to thank them and offer to donate to a charity of their choice. She had been driving from Coalville to her home in Coton, a journey she had often taken, when the accident happened on Tuesday, March 29.
She does not remember the incident, but said she heard a bang and the next thing she knew was she was upside down in her car.
She said: “It was scary. I woke up and the airbag had gone off and there was a woman in my window talking to me and trying to calm me down. I didn’t even see the police at first and then one of them got into the back of the car and held me up and one cut the seat belt and passed the [spinal] board.
“They were telling me not to panic and the paramedic helped me through the window and move my legs over so they could get them down.
“I don’t know what happened. One of the officers said maybe the sun had blinded me. The doctors won’t let me drive because they want to find out what happened.
“I have seen a heart specialist and have had many tests. They have also said I could have a new shoulder.”
Mrs Tipper, a former home carer who had been driving for 49 years, says she wants to find those who helped her during the crash. She
said: “It means a lot. I think they saved my life.
“I don’t know what would have happened if it had happened somewhere else [and no one came out]. I would have been strangled by my seat belt.”
Officers from Swadlincote police safer neighbourhood team were first to arrive after finding Mrs Tipper with her seat belt wrapped around her neck, trapping her two metres in the air and leaving her struggling to breathe.
One officer held onto her from the driver’s side window, which was facing skyward after the car rolled on its side, having climbed onto the side of the car.
A second officer crawled in through the boot and through to the passenger seat. He held the driver up while the belt was cut, releasing tension around her neck.
She was then freed from the car via the boot and put on a spinal board with help from firefighters and paramedics.
Anyone who was involved in rescuing Mrs Tipper is asked to call 01283 760955.