WAKING up hanging upside down to hear her children screaming.
That was how Lisa Sheldrake, of Robeck Road, Ipswich, described the moments after a horror smash on the A12 on Saturday night.
She was travelling home with her partner Hassan Yasaneh, who was driving, and their children five-year-old Leona and four-year-old Keiara after a day out in London visiting relatives when the crash happened.
She said: “The girls were in the back of the car asleep and I nodded off too.
“The first thing I knew was waking up and hanging upside down.
“I had orange sparks flying around in front of my face and all I could hear was the girls screaming and crying.”
Mr Yasaneh, 43, crawled from the wreckage and pulled his family to safety.
Miss Sheldrake, 23, added: “The girls were screaming and were terrified. They’ve been left traumatised by it all.”
The crash happened near Stanway in Essex when a blue BMW 318 collided with the family’s Volkswagen Polo on the northbound carriageway of the A12, just after 11pm on Saturday.
The Polo overturned and rolled several times before stopping upside down. The BMW driver, who fled the scene, is now being sought by police.
Miss Sheldrake said: “My partner said he saw a car coming up really fast in his mirror and then it began to swerve all over the road.
“When he went to look again it was too late and he heard a massive bang as the car smashed into the back of us.”
The family were treated by paramedics before being taken to Colchester General Hospital for treatment to injuries including back and neck pain, cuts and bruises. They were later discharged.
She added: “The ambulance crews and police officers said we should have been carried away in boxes and it was a miracle we made it out alive.
“Our child seats were completely destroyed which illustrates the ferocity of the impact,” she added. “The fact we survived is obviously the main thing as it could have been a lot worse.”
Investigating officer, Pc Grant Fryatt, said: “This family could have been killed in this collision.
“The damage to both vehicles is very extensive and the four in the Polo are lucky to have walked away with just minor injuries.
“The BMW driver is likely to have been injured too and we are concerned for his health as well as wanting to speak to him in relation to the cause of the crash.”
Witnesses or anyone with information should call investigating officers at Stanway Road Policing Unit on 101.
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