Dennie Butters, a 23-year-old postwoman, has told of the horrific car crash she survived while driving to her mum’s house on Christmas Day
A young postwoman has told of a horrific car crash she survived while driving to her mum’s house on Christmas Day.
Dennie Butters, 23, was about halfway through the short drive on Thursday morning when her Dacia collided head-on with an Audi on Nottingham Road, just outside the village of Costock in south Nottinghamshire. She says the Audi was on the wrong side of the road as she travelled around a bend.
“I remember everything apart from the impact. I remember him being right in front of me and it going black,” Ms Butters said. She found herself trapped in the wreckage, in excruciating pain, feeling as though her back was “being ripped apart”.
The postwoman, who recently moved to Cotgrave and was heading to Quorn in Leicestershire, said she was told it was a miracle she survived, Nottinghamshire Live reports. “One of the firemen and someone else told me I probably shouldn’t have survived. If I wasn’t wearing a seatbelt I would’ve had a zero per cent chance,” she said.
Several bystanders, including an off-duty nurse and a police officer, rushed to help. “I was trapped in a really awful position. The crash had launched me forward, my knees were packed underneath the steering wheel and my pelvis was trapped underneath the edge of my seat,” she said. “It was incredibly painful the whole time. It was awful. It felt like my back was being ripped apart.”
Emergency services, including police, firefighters and an air ambulance, soon arrived. Firefighters initially cut off the roof but were unable to free Ms Butters, who was eventually released by a hydraulic spreader, which effectively split the car in half.
Ms Butters sustained numerous injuries, including a broken wrist, torn abdominal muscles leaving her large intestine protruding, and various cuts and bruises. She also underwent surgery on her knee, which had been penetrated by the steering rack. She said the other driver involved in the crash suffered minor injuries.
Ms Butters, who spent Christmas in hospital with her mum and stepdad, remains unsure when she will be discharged from Queen’s Medical Centre.
She described the ordeal as “very odd” for the family given her father died in a crash in 2008. “It was pretty much exactly how my dad went. Having her husband and daughter go like that, I don’t think [my mum] would’ve got through that,” she said.
East Leake Fire Station said its crew helped free Ms Butters and hand her over to medics. “She was handed over to East Midlands Ambulance Service and HeliMed. She was stable and transported to QMC,” the fire station wrote on Facebook.
