A Dundee woman says she was “really lucky” to escape unharmed after a 40ft tree toppled on to her car during Storm Arwen.
Jill Sutherland was trapped in her vehicle on Myrekirk Road in Dundee on Friday evening as the storm wreaked havoc on Tayside.
The 56-year-old was stationary at the roundabout when the incident happened shortly after 5pm.
Speaking to The Courier and Evening Telegraph, she thanked two members of the public who rushed to her aid before emergency services arrived on the scene.
‘Big bang’
She said: “It wasn’t until I got out of the car that I looked around and thought, ‘I’ve been really lucky here.
“There was literally a big bang and the car was submerged under the tree. The passenger windows had smashed.
“I couldn’t get the driver’s side door open due to the impact either and I went into panic mode as I was trapped.”
The Menzieshill resident said a man by the name of Eric and woman called Aileen came to her rescue.
She said: “They were absolutely brilliant. I’m just sorry I never got their surnames but they were speaking to me through the window.
“They’d been in another vehicle waiting at the roundabout.
“Eric managed to prise the driver’s door open just enough for me to get out.
“They were going to wait on the emergency services but I was becoming a bit panicked that I couldn’t get out.
“When Eric got the door open, I managed to crouch and get under the branches.
“It wasn’t until I was away from the vehicle that Eric told me the passenger windows had shattered and there was glass on the floor.
“My grandson’s car seat sits in the back of the car and I did start to think, imagine if he’d been in the back?
“Thankfully, with the help of Eric and Aileen, I was only in the car for five or 10 minutes before they got me out.”
‘Wrong place, wrong time’
She added: “I don’t know if, in a way, it was actually better that the traffic wasn’t moving, as the damage could have been worse if the cars hadn’t been stationary.
“The fire crews sealed the area off around my vehicle shortly after the incident.
“The police have said it was a freak of nature, wrong place, wrong time, and I was just very lucky.
“There were two fire crews who arrived on scene to help cut me out and there was also an ambulance.
“But thankfully I was just shaken from what happened.
“I honestly can’t thank those two people enough for coming to my aid and I’m just very grateful.”
Arwen aftermath: Pictures show devastation caused in Tayside and Fife
