- 7 months ago
Close Calls On Camera S10E10 (22nd April 2022)
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🦄
CreativityTranscript
00:00A close call. A moment of danger when life can hang in the balance.
00:05It was absolute panic and fear.
00:08A split second where the outcome could go either way.
00:11They'd have been lucky if they'd have stayed conscious.
00:13The difference between disaster and survival.
00:16It's literally, that's all it takes.
00:20These are the people that have been there and lived to tell the tale.
00:24I was terrified. I thought I was going to die.
00:27It's a day they'll never forget.
00:30The day they had a close call.
00:46Today on Close Calls.
00:49Emergency services line a quiet residential street at night.
00:54This is why.
00:55A speeding car has smashed through the living room wall of a family home.
01:01Where a mother and son were spending a quiet evening in.
01:06Shocked neighbours saw it happen.
01:08See the car full accelerate, take off, smash through and then there was this smoke.
01:13Oh my God, like a man has been hit.
01:16The first thing that went through my mind was, this could be fatal.
01:20And, a couple on a birthday drive to the coast draw level with a lorry, heading the opposite way.
01:29I see by the way that it's leaning over that the driver's obviously taking the corner too fast.
01:35The lorry's trailer tips, shedding an entire pallet of concrete blocks.
01:40You sort of see the bricks.
01:42It hit the brakes and then we had the impact.
01:44It was just like a wall of bricks coming towards you.
01:51Also today, a biker negotiating a roundabout is forced to brake hard as a car darts out in front of him.
01:59I shut my eyes because I knew I was going to hit the head.
02:01Burgess Hill, West Sussex.
02:14A mum settles down to watch TV, glances out of her ground floor window and sees a car hurtling towards her home.
02:23I was absolutely petrified. I literally froze.
02:27The vehicle smashes through the front of the house.
02:30Coming to rest in the living room, destroying everything in its path.
02:35A neighbour clambers through the rubble, fearing for the family's survival.
02:49Mum Amanda lives in Burgess Hill, West Sussex, with her 25-year-old son, Ashley.
02:54She's his full-time carer and the pair are inseparable.
02:57Ashley is a very good-natured person. He'll help anybody.
03:03He has special needs and he does have mental health issues.
03:07So I do my best to care for him.
03:13When they're not out walking together, they spend time at home pursuing their individual passions.
03:18Ashley's an avid gamer.
03:20It's his favourite hobby. At the end of the day, we'll get together and put the world to right, you know, that sort of thing.
03:27And Amanda has a fondness for models and figurines. She's been collecting them for more than 20 years.
03:32They have a lot of sentimental value because some of them are my late partners that he's bought me, or my son's bought me.
03:40So I'm very attached to a lot of them.
03:43Mother and son are also very attached to the area where they live.
03:47It's been home for 13 years and they enjoy being part of the community.
03:51It's a wonderful neighbourhood. People are so friendly. We help each other out.
03:56They're particularly close to neighbours Emma and David, who live along the road with their two sons.
04:02Oh, Amanda is so bubbly. I've never, ever seen Amanda with a sullen face.
04:08She's lovely. We couldn't ask for a better neighbour.
04:11Quite a close little road. A lot of people, we sort of all do know each other.
04:14I'd say it's quite a neighbourly road, yeah.
04:16And one spring evening, Amanda and Ashley have reason to be grateful to their close-knit community
04:22when the peace of this quiet neighbourhood is shattered.
04:29It's a clear Wednesday evening at the end of March.
04:33Amanda and Ashley are at home.
04:35They've just finished dinner and are settling in for the night.
04:39Ashley was feeling a little tired, so he went to bed and had to lie down on the bed for a little while, a little cat nap.
04:45And I sat in my favourite chair to watch some television.
04:50Cup of tea and very chilled.
04:53Further up the street, Emma and David are in the middle of their children's bedtime routine.
04:58I think Emma was running the bath. Kids are just being the kids. It's a normal day.
05:03But it doesn't stay that way.
05:06Just after 8pm, David goes outside to fetch something from his van.
05:10He's startled by a loud noise.
05:12I was leaning out of the van. Heard a massive big smash and a bang.
05:18At home, close by, settled in her armchair by the window, Amanda hears it too.
05:23It was a very loud crash, like metal hitting something.
05:27So I looked out. I could see sparks.
05:32Curious, David makes his way up the street.
05:35It was a car, heard in second gear, full accelerate.
05:41And then as I walked up, it was going straight past me.
05:45The vehicle's heading for Amanda's. Lights blazing and the engine revving.
05:50I saw this car coming towards me at great speed.
05:54And I was absolutely petrified.
05:57I literally froze.
05:59David can't believe his eyes.
06:00See the car, hit the curb, take off, just straight into the window.
06:09First initial thought was, like, oh my God, like, Amanda's been hit.
06:15He shouts to Emma and races across to Amanda's.
06:18It's one of them sort of things that happens, you just work on instinct.
06:24The first thing that went through my mind was, this could be fatal.
06:28It was absolute panic and fear.
06:30The car has destroyed the front of the house.
06:33David desperately clambers through the rubble, calling for Amanda.
06:37I hear water, like, hissing, and all the dust, all the bricks, it was just really dusty.
06:41So I've gone, like, shouting, Amanda, Amanda.
06:45And she was literally stood up, just like, in shock.
06:50I was shaking, I was scared, and I was panicking.
06:53After hurtling into her living room, the car has stopped literally inches from her feet.
06:58I would say about that much.
07:01It is really the most terrifying thing I've ever experienced.
07:07And the danger's not over.
07:09Smoke is pouring from the wrecked vehicle, and building debris is all around them.
07:14I didn't know if it was going to collapse or not, or what was going on,
07:17so I just wanted her to get outside.
07:19But Amanda's not leaving without Ashley.
07:22And I said, are you OK, are you OK?
07:24She's like, my son, Ashley, Ashley.
07:25I wanted to get married to make sure that he was safe and he was out.
07:27And I was like, where is he, where is he?
07:29And, um, she was like, in his bedroom.
07:31I thought, well, first of all, he's got full out.
07:32He's not underneath the car.
07:34Promising to come back for Ashley, David insists on getting Amanda out of the house,
07:39guiding her through the hole in the wall.
07:42David escorted me halfway to the brickwork.
07:46There was people by the window that helped lift her over the bricks.
07:49I stumbled at one point because I was so...
07:52I was so scared and really, really shaken up.
07:56But she's safe.
07:57Ashley, however, is still somewhere in the house.
08:01With no thought for his own safety, David clambers through the rubble towards the rear of the building.
08:08So I had to boot through the door.
08:10I was like, and it was really smoky at times.
08:12You could really see.
08:14Seconds later, he finds a distressed and confused Ashley standing in the hallway.
08:19I was like, Ashley, you all right?
08:20He went, what have I done?
08:22I was like, mate, you've done nothing.
08:24I was just like, your car's a smash through your house.
08:25I was like, you need to get out.
08:28David leads the young man out through the front door.
08:31Amanda is waiting for him.
08:33It's very shaken up.
08:35And he absolutely screamed.
08:38Absolutely hysterical.
08:39Onlookers take these images at the scene.
08:42The window on the left is where Amanda was sitting.
08:45The ceiling above her armchair has collapsed.
08:48The supporting lintel and brickwork of the adjacent window have been destroyed.
08:51And glass lisses the car's roof.
08:54The car was literally halfway for the property.
08:59You don't quite know whether to stand up, sit down.
09:01I don't think laugh or cry to be honest.
09:03Other residents gather outside offering help.
09:07One calls 999, while others, including Emma, comfort Amanda and Ashley.
09:12They were visibly shaken up.
09:15I went and got a chair from my garden and brought it out the front so Amanda could sit down because I was concerned that she might fall down because she was obviously in shock.
09:23But I couldn't feel anything at all.
09:25It was like the whole world had gone into slow motion.
09:30David and another neighbour, Gary, helped the female driver of the car escape through the rear passenger door.
09:37She looked like she was just in a ghost.
09:39She was in complete shock.
09:41And she was shaking like that.
09:43Moments later, emergency services arrive at the scene.
09:47Amanda and Ashley are checked over by paramedics.
09:49By some miracle, both have escaped without injury.
09:54All I had was on my right calf, I had a few scratches from flying bricks.
10:01Police secure the scene and remain there overnight.
10:04Emma and David arrange for Amanda and Ashley to go to a local hotel.
10:09The following day, they return to survey the damage.
10:13After, you know, many years of having a lot of joy out of the things I love to collect,
10:19and then seeing it strewn everywhere, it looked an absolute mess.
10:24It was absolutely soul-destroying.
10:26But her spirits are lifted by the local community who clear the rubble from the house
10:31and help furnish temporary accommodation for mum and son.
10:37Builders, clearance people all chipped in and helped.
10:40Within like two days, the place had been stripped out.
10:42We had people, the whole community of Burgess Hill and, you know, surrounding areas.
10:47They were able to come back and offer rugs, curtains, anything just to make their temporary accommodation livable.
10:55Everyone was just so generous.
10:57It made a big difference, actually.
10:59People are absolutely amazing.
11:01When something like this happens, and I'm really overwhelmed to this day.
11:06I made lots of friends through this, in a very strange way, but it's nice.
11:12It's nice to know that neighbours can be so amazing.
11:16Amanda and Ashley are now happily back in their refurbished home.
11:21The driver of the car was convicted of driving under the influence
11:24and received a fine and driving ban.
11:27Amanda realises the events of that terrifying night
11:32could have had a much worse outcome for everyone involved.
11:37How we got out of it in one piece, with hardly a scratch, is an absolute miracle.
11:44I always think that a family member up there is watching us.
11:48I know that for sure.
11:51Coming up later, a biker skids to avoid a collision
11:55and ends up trapped under his motorbike
11:58in the path of oncoming cars.
12:00I had 180 kilos of bike coming down onto my right leg.
12:12The B1535, near Western Longfield, Norfolk.
12:17A dash cam is recording as a couple drive to the coast
12:21for a birthday celebration.
12:24But they never get there.
12:36Company director Neil and his wife Alison live in Bunwell, Norfolk.
12:41Boy, yes you are.
12:43They both grew up in the county and first met when they were just teenagers.
12:47She was on a riding holiday and came to the village where I was living at the time.
12:51He cycled past with some friends and I might have leapt in his way
12:55and, you know, just to catch his attention.
13:00And it all went from there, really, yeah.
13:02They've now been together for 35 years and have three children.
13:06The family have lived in California, North Carolina and London
13:11but moved back to settle in their beloved home county 15 years ago.
13:16Where we live in Norfolk is about as quiet as it gets, I think.
13:21We're sort of in the middle of nowhere.
13:23It's just got the most beautiful way of life.
13:26It's rural, it's very laid back.
13:28Suits us down to the ground.
13:29There's only one drawback.
13:33The rural setting makes driving a necessity.
13:36To reduce their carbon footprint,
13:38the couple recently decided to make the switch to all-electric cars.
13:42Neil racks up the bars for work,
13:44so he decided to treat himself to a top-of-the-range model.
13:49I'm an engineer by training,
13:51so I do like cars in an engineering sense.
13:56And it's fantastic to drive.
13:59Neil was very excited about getting it.
14:02I think he was taking pictures of it when we got it home.
14:06But before Neil's barely got miles on the clock,
14:10a relaxing drive in the country ends up threatening both their lives.
14:20It's a mild Monday morning at the end of May.
14:23Alison and Neil both have the day off to celebrate Alison's 50th birthday.
14:28We'd planned a day out,
14:30just Neil and I going on my favourite walk.
14:33Up to the coast, up to Holcombe,
14:35and walk across the wells next to the sea.
14:37We were then going to come back after the day,
14:40and I'd got friends, various friends,
14:42dropping round in the afternoon
14:43for a glass of something very bubbly.
14:47And the couple's spirits are fizzing
14:48as they set off on the hour-long journey to the coast
14:51with Neil at the wheel.
14:54I think it was only the second time I'd been in his car.
14:57In fact, I didn't even know how to open the door.
14:59So, it was a treat.
15:04Their trip is captured on the car's in-built dash camera
15:08as they make their way along a winding B road.
15:10It's quite narrow, and it does have quite a lot of traffic on it,
15:16with particularly HGVs.
15:17It's not an easy road to drive,
15:19but if you drive slow enough, it should be fun.
15:22But not every driver does.
15:25Neil slows down on the approach to a sharp bend
15:28as a lorry comes into view on the opposite side of the road.
15:31And you can see by the way that it's leaning over
15:35that the driver's obviously taken the corner too fast.
15:38But he'd obviously managed to get round the corner okay.
15:41So, at that point, I thought,
15:42okay, well, that's a bit unfortunate,
15:44but everything's going to be fine.
15:47But he's wrong.
15:54Neil and Alison are travelling at around 30 miles an hour
15:58as the lorry draws alongside,
16:00shedding an entire pallet of concrete blocks from its trailer
16:03right in their path.
16:06It was just like a wall,
16:08a wall of bricks coming towards you.
16:10There really wasn't time even to think.
16:12You could sort of see the bricks and hit the brakes,
16:15and then we had the impact.
16:18The heavy blocks smash through the windscreen
16:20and drive a side window.
16:25There's a big bang,
16:26and the airbags go off
16:28and the glass breaks.
16:30It was frightening,
16:32and incredibly scary.
16:39Shaken but conscious,
16:41Neil and Alison checked themselves over for injuries.
16:45I was worried about Ali.
16:46She was worried about me.
16:47There was blood on his face and his ears
16:49and his hands,
16:50and his burn was awful.
16:52I got a burn on my hand from,
16:54I think from the airbag, actually.
16:56And looking down,
16:57I could see he was covered in bricks down his feet,
17:00so I presumed his legs had been injured.
17:03But miraculously,
17:05Neil doesn't appear to be badly hurt.
17:08He was like,
17:09are you okay?
17:10Yeah,
17:10and we were both fine,
17:11you know,
17:11we were both moving.
17:13Then they hear a voice through the car speakers.
17:15It's an emergency call handler.
17:17The car had sent an SOS signal
17:20and it's called the emergency services.
17:23So then we were talking to the operator
17:24and asked for help.
17:28Emergency services are dispatched,
17:30and at the scene,
17:31the shaken lorry driver approaches the couple's car.
17:35He was as white as a sheet.
17:36I think he thought he'd killed us.
17:38The couple clamber out of the passenger side door,
17:41and while they wait for the ambulance,
17:43Neil takes these photographs of the wrecked car.
17:46It's a write-off.
17:48The concrete blocks have smashed the vehicle from end to end.
17:52Some still litter the bonnet and the windscreen.
17:56All the glass on the driver's side is shattered
17:58and more blocks are strewn across the road behind.
18:02Alison goes into shock.
18:06I thought I was going to pass out.
18:07I thought I was going to throw up.
18:08My whole body was shaking.
18:10I just couldn't believe what had happened
18:12and what could have happened.
18:14She's also in pain.
18:16My immediate awareness was chest pains,
18:19and having had a few heart issues over the last few months,
18:22I was worried that I had damaged it in some way.
18:26Yeah, I was really quite worried about her at that point.
18:30Passers-by stop to help.
18:32One, an off-duty nurse, comes to Alison's aid.
18:35She gave some really good advice in terms of lying Ali down
18:38and making sure her feet were above her head.
18:41And bless her, she wouldn't leave me till the ambulance came.
18:44It arrives a few minutes later, and paramedics assess the couple.
18:49The paramedics were concerned with the chest pain I had
18:52and for whiplash.
18:54They're taken to hospital for further checks.
18:57Later that day, doctors give them the all-clear,
18:59and they're allowed home to recover.
19:02I was lucky that it wasn't anything serious.
19:05It literally was just airbag bruising, you know, and seatbelt bruising.
19:09Neil's new car, however, hasn't fared so well.
19:12The car was a complete write-off.
19:16It was too badly damaged for any sort of repair.
19:20Alison's big day is also written off.
19:24Possibly the worst birthday ever.
19:26Not quite how I envisaged spending my 50th.
19:31A few days later, the couple watched the dashcam footage of the accident
19:35and realised how fortunate they were.
19:39We were both incredibly lucky
19:41getting away with the injuries as lightly as we did.
19:45If Richard got no doubt if one had hit me on the head, I would be dead.
19:49The frame of the car held up, I think, remarkably well.
19:54The driver of the lorry pleaded guilty to an offence
19:57involving an insecure load
19:59and was fined £267 and given three points on his licence.
20:06Neil's now replaced his car with the same model,
20:08and the couple rescheduled their trip
20:10to celebrate Alison's special birthday,
20:12albeit via an alternative route.
20:15We managed to get a day off and finally do the walk.
20:19It was great. It was as good as we expected.
20:21What a birthday!
20:32Alison and Neil were very lucky.
20:33A few inches more,
20:34and the whole lot could have come through the windscreen.
20:37Now to another motorist who needs a bit of luck,
20:39this time on a motorbike.
20:48Norwich, Norfolk.
20:49A dashcam is recording on the approach to a busy roundabout.
20:56On the right, a motorcyclist enters the junction
20:58from the opposite side.
21:00I'm looking at my exit.
21:02I've started to open the accelerator
21:03when, out of the peripheral vision,
21:06I suddenly got a flash of blue.
21:08It's a car, and it's not stopping.
21:10Motorcycle courier Bill works in and around his home city
21:23of Norwich in Norfolk.
21:24He was a single dad to daughter Kayleigh at 21,
21:27and now at 55, he's a granddad to 12-year-old Iona.
21:31He surprised some of his family
21:34when, after taking early retirement from a previous job,
21:37he shunned pipe and slippers for biking leathers
21:40and the open road.
21:43My mother worries.
21:45Sometimes I'll get a message, you know,
21:47what are you doing?
21:49But no, they're OK with it.
21:50They understand.
21:52I'd always been fascinated with bikes.
21:54I literally took my pension and bought two bikes.
21:58I actually have three now.
21:59Did my CBT, and I've been riding ever since.
22:02For Bill, biking is much more than a hobby.
22:05There's a sense of freedom, and there's a sense of living.
22:10You can feel the air.
22:12You can hear the wind rushing past your ears.
22:15It is just a lifestyle that you just can't beat.
22:20And biking has become a living for Bill as well.
22:23His daughter, also a courier,
22:25suggested the job a few years ago
22:27when Bill passed his test.
22:29Riding for work is brilliant.
22:32The number of times I will filter past traffic,
22:34I actually pass my daughter.
22:36She does the same job as I do.
22:38She was in a car stuck in traffic,
22:40and I went sailing down past her.
22:42But one spring evening,
22:43on a regular trip across town,
22:46another motorist forces Bill
22:48into making a snap decision,
22:50putting his life on the line.
22:57It's a mild and clear Thursday evening
22:59at the end of April.
23:00Bill's out on his motorbike,
23:03on his way to deliver a motorcycle jacket
23:05he's sold online.
23:07It was nice riding conditions.
23:09My only concern was making sure
23:11I got to the right address.
23:14He's been travelling for about ten minutes
23:16when he reaches a dual carriageway,
23:18approaching a large four-junction roundabout.
23:21It normally is very, very busy.
23:24On that day, when I got to the roundabout,
23:26there was no traffic on my side.
23:29Bill checks around him before he enters
23:32and heads for the second exit.
23:34Everything was clear.
23:35I checked my mirrors.
23:36I tend to read the body language of a car
23:38so that I can try and anticipate as much as possible
23:42what anybody else is going to do.
23:43But he can't possibly predict what happens next.
23:48On the opposite side of the roundabout,
23:49a driver's dash cam is recording.
23:52It captures Bill here about to pass the first exit.
23:56I was doing about 20 mile an hour
23:58when I entered the roundabout.
23:59I actually looked at the driver on the first lane
24:03to make sure he'd seen me
24:06and then turned to look for my exit.
24:09But suddenly, everything changes.
24:12Out of the peripheral vision,
24:13I suddenly got a flash of blue.
24:15It's a blue car darting out
24:17from the inside lane of the next exit.
24:27Bill has only moments to react.
24:30I honestly thought I was going to hit the car.
24:32It was that close.
24:33I felt I had two options,
24:36hit the car or put the bike on the floor.
24:38He chooses option two,
24:40pulls hard on the brakes,
24:41drops the bike and goes into a slide.
24:44I shut my eyes because I knew I was going to hit my head.
24:47He skids along the tarmac,
24:48missing the car by inches.
24:53Oncoming traffic breaks hard.
24:56On the road in front of them,
24:57Bill can't move.
24:58His right leg is trapped.
24:59He's under the bike.
25:01I had 180 kilos of bike coming down onto my right leg.
25:05There was no way I could actually get up
25:06without somebody lifting the bike off of me.
25:09Concerned bystanders and other drivers rush over
25:11to do just that,
25:13heaving the heavy bike off Bill.
25:16One of them is a doctor at the local hospital.
25:19He said, how are you?
25:20And I said, more importantly, how's the bike?
25:23He said, well, don't worry about that.
25:25And I said, yeah, but I'm a biker.
25:26I worry about the bike.
25:28But the doctor is more concerned about Bill
25:30wanting to know if he can move.
25:33I was lying on my right-hand side.
25:35As soon as I tried to turn,
25:36immediately I realised that the ankle was painful enough
25:40that it could be fractured.
25:41And I also actually thought
25:42that my right knee had been fractured as well.
25:44The doctor dials 999.
25:48And literally within what appeared to be seconds,
25:51it probably was a couple of minutes,
25:53an ambulance was there.
25:55An onlooker films the scene at the busy roundabout
25:57as paramedics manoeuvre Bill onto a stretcher.
26:01They're worried about spinal injuries.
26:04A lot of questions were asked
26:05while I still had the helmet on.
26:08And then once I'd answered all the questions
26:10to give them peace of mind
26:12that my neck wasn't seriously injured,
26:13they'd literally scoop me up off the road,
26:16put me in the back of the ambulance.
26:17And take him to nearby Norwich and Norfolk University Hospital,
26:22where doctors treat him for concussion.
26:26X-rays reveal he suffered a fracture
26:28on the inside of his right ankle.
26:31Although it was a tiny fracture,
26:33it made it unstable that if I ended up with too much pressure
26:38or turned the ankle over,
26:40it could rip it right open and then need surgery.
26:42He's given an orthopaedic boot to protect the fracture
26:46and allowed home to recover,
26:47but it's six weeks before he can work again.
26:50The worst part of the accident is probably the after-effects.
26:54It's the stress of,
26:56I'm not going to be able to work and I'm self-employed,
26:58which meant no income.
27:00Bill's beloved bike, however, came off better.
27:03Well, it was just literally scratches and what have you.
27:05The bike was quite lucky, thankfully.
27:14Bill is now fully fit and back riding and working again.
27:18Police were unable to trace the driver who pulled out in front of him,
27:22but the dashcam footage helped Bill claim for lost earnings.
27:25The motor insurance bureau,
27:28as soon as they saw the video footage that was provided,
27:31they immediately, on behalf of the driver, accepted liability,
27:34which means at some point I will get a compensation.
27:38And Bill is taking extra measures himself to stay safe on the roads.
27:42There is in Norfolk a safer rider scheme I hope to do next year,
27:46which will enhance my skills as a rider on what to look out for in incidents.
27:51It's just a case of, I really, really sort of want to do it,
27:55but I want to do it and keep alive.
28:05Talk about close.
28:07Everyone who survived today's incidents did so by the narrowest of margins,
28:11didn't they?
28:12See you next time for more Close Calls.
28:16Close Calls.