Newgale crash: Survivor recalls ‘miracle’ no one died after being feet away from car
A survivor of the horrific camp site crash which left nine people in hospital has said it is a “huge miracle” no one died.
Ellie Owen told The Mirror how she was just feet away with her family from the speeding car which smashed through tents behind her. The 21 year old, from Oswestry, Shropshire said: “The more I think about it the more I realise it is a huge miracle no one died. Someone must have been looking down on all us that night.
“If the car had come off the road just a couple of seconds later we would have been dead because of the way cars were parked – we would have been crushed.” Ellie was on the last night of a week-long holiday in west Wales with her family and friends when disaster almost struck at the packed Newgale campsite in Pembrokeshire on Saturday night.
Shocking video and pictures taken by Ellie in the harrowing aftermath show the carnage caused by the out-of-control vehicle as emergency service workers tended to the injured. But Ellie revealed how the bravery and quick-thinking of campers in the immediate aftermath helped save one man crushed beneath the car.
She described how heroic campers rushed to the man, trapped below the crumpled Ford Fiesta, and rolled it off him with brute strength. Describing the harrowing moment the car hit she said: “We were just relaxing by our tent by the fire[1] having a nice time telling scary stories and things like that and next thing you know a car is flying right behind us.
Camp crash survivor Ellie Owen (
Ellie Owen)
Ellie (right) with mum Kerry (
Ellie Owen)
“We had heard a car coming racing down hill then the next thing we heard was tyres screeching but in those few seconds we all thought it would pass but then there was a bump. Before we knew the car was bouncing, crashing behind us. It ploughed through the tents, flipping and spinning and then silence. Then all you could hear was the screaming.
“The first thing I saw was the crashed car on top of a flattened tent with people underneath. I rang 999 immediately and everyone jumped into action but it was just chaos. I was certain people were dead. A group of people including my friend Aaron came together and rolled the car off one man onto its side because he was trapped underneath. His leg was stuck under the car but that did not stop them, they just pushed it over, I don’t know where they got the strength from.”
The campsite after the crash (
Supplied)
Emergency services at the scene (
Supplied)
Ellie and her mum Kerry, 43, both trained first aiders then set about helping as many people as they could. Her mum checked over a baby who was saved by his cot as he was sleeping but Ellie believes without it it could have been a very different story.
She said: “We went round offering first aid and blankets to people while trying to calm people down but it was chaos. If the little baby was not in the cot that got hit it could have been very serious but thankfully the baby was OK. The car actually struck the corner of the cot but my mum checked the baby over to make sure he was fine. Everybody was just doing everything they could.”
Ellie revealed the speeding blue Ford Fiesta was driving at “almost 90mph” before the crash and that the five-seater car had seven teens inside. She said: “There was a driver and another six passengers so there were seven people in the small car all together, all teenagers.
“The driver had only passed his test in June or something driving stupid speeds down the roads trying to impress his friends or something. I reckon they were going at least 90mph. They were covered in blood but two of them ran away while people took care of the others. We gave one girl a chair and a blanket and she seemed OK.”
Three people remain in hospital after the crash including surfer Dan Staniforth, 44, who was socialising with his little boy Sonny asleep in the family tent just a few feet away when the car hit. The airborne Ford Fiesta flattened the tent but toddler Sonny escaped the “carnage” because he was protected bis £25 travel cot.
But keen surfer Dan, 44, suffered life-changing crush injuries and was airlifted to hospital where he is in a “serious” condition. His partner Emma Lou Lewis was treated in hospital for an arm injury but later released. Dyfed-Powys police[2] are now investigating the cause of the crash and the campsite has been sealed off for investigation. Crash scene investigators are believed to be trying to trace the movements of the Fiesta on the A487 in the moments leading up to the crash.
References
- ^ fire (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ Dyfed-Powys police (www.mirror.co.uk)