A mother-of-five has relived the horror moment when a huge tree branch smashed through her car windscreen showering her eyes and hair with lethal shards of glass.
Christine McDermott from Wexford was driving towards New Ross last Thursday evening when the incredible incident took place.
She recalled: "It was just a light drizzle that was coming down and I was driving slow because I am a safe driver when all of a sudden this massive branch came through the windscreen and smashed into the dashboard.
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"I was in total shock but stayed calm enough to pull in off the road. I rang my partner Anthony Lanigan and told him what happened but before he arrived on the scene another driver came to help me.
"When the fire brigade arrived one of them told me he had been a fireman for twenty years and that was the worst incident he ever had to deal with.
"I kind of started shaking a bit when I heard that and they gave me water to wash the glass from my eyes and hair, I could feel it stinging my eyes.
"I literally escaped death. If I was going any faster the branch would have gone straight through me, I know just how lucky I was."
When an anxious Anthony arrived he asked if an ambulance had been called but was told there was none available.
He said: "'I dialled 999 and to be fair to the guy on the phone he was brilliant, when I told him what had happened and that Christine was in shock he talked me through exactly what I should be doing and saying.
"But despite the fact this was clearly an emergency, no ambulance was sent our way, in fact, it was two and a half hours later when I got a call back to say one had been despatched but I had to tell them we were already at home by that stage."
The couple live in the countryside and at the moment have to use a borrowed vehicle as their insurance company have declared the accident as an act of nature and are refusing to replace the written-off seven seater Ford S-Max.
Anthony said: "It is drizzling rain here today and Christine is really nervous about driving the kids to and from school because the conditions are similar to the night of her accident.
"I completely understand that but we'll get over that problem eventually and to be honest I am just glad she is still here."
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