IPSWICH: He is lucky to be alive – and it is all thanks to the quick-thinking actions of fellow revellers.

Battered and bruised Terry Barrett is today back at home in Pheasant Road, Chantry, recovering after a dramatic end to a night out in town.

The 26-year-old counts himself as the “luckiest man in the world” and has thanked the quick-thinking bystanders who lifted a car off him in an heroic rescue that unfolded after he collided with a cab at the weekend.

Mr Barrett, a worker at Ipswich Docks, was heading home after a night out drinking with friends when he stopped at the Ipswich Fish & Chips shop in the Old Cattle Market.

As he stepped back into the road he turned and was instantly swept underneath the wheels of a cab.

The collision, involving a silver Ford Mondeo, happened at the taxi rank, opposite Pals, just before 3.40am on Sunday.

“I had no chance to jump out of the way,” he said. “I just turned and it was too late, it was just there.”

Mr Barrett described feeling “immense pain” as the front wheels of the cab drove over him, crushing his chest and shoulder.

“I remember hearing people shouting at the driver to stop,” he said. “I was scared and in a lot of pain, it was awful I felt like my chest, back and shoulder was being completely crushed. It felt like a lifetime.

“If the people hadn’t shouted at the driver to stop he might have driven over me with the back wheels as well. It could have been so much worse.”

Mr Barrett praised his team of rescuers who he believes prevented him from being more seriously injured.

He said doctors at Ipswich Hospital told him it was “a miracle” he escaped without serious injury.

“I didn’t even break a bone,” he said. “The doctors said I was a miracle.

“I have got bad bruising on both ankles, my right shoulder, left hand side of my chest, and both hips. I am a bit battered and bruised but I am lucky to be alive.

“I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who helped lift the cab off me,” he added. “Without them things could have been very different.”

A spokeswoman for Suffolk police confirmed no action is being taken against the cab driver.

n Have you had a lucky escape? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.