A mum who was involved in a car crash with her toddler is warning other parents about the importance of using car seats correctly.
Cara Steele had just picked her 18-month-old son Albie up from nursery when a pick-up truck hit her car from behind.
The boot of her Vauxhall Astra Estate was crushed in the incident, but luckily Albie was not injured.
The teacher was told by a paramedic and a traffic officer that if Albie had been front facing, it would have been 'a very different scenario' - severe spinal injury or even internal decapitation where the spinal cord is severed from the force of the impact.
Mum-of-one Cara, 34, shared photos of the crash as a warning to other parents to keep their little ones in rear facing car seats until they reach the recommended 25kg, or 55lb - up to around six years old, Manchester Evening News reports.
In her post, which has been shared thousands of times, Cara said: "If this makes one person consider extended rear facing, or turning their child back to rear facing then my story has helped somebody.
"Albie is only 18 months old but he will rear face until he’s 25kg. There’s so much information out there about the benefits of rear facing, I only ask that people educate themselves with it."
Cara and Albie were just a mile from home, in Manchester when the truck hit them at around 6pm on Monday.
Two men helped get Albie out, while Cara got out through the passenger door.
Her son was deemed fine by the paramedics and although Cara needed an X-ray on her spine and shoulder, it thankfully showed no fractures.
"Albie had a couple of bruises on his leg, a small cut on his eye and on one of his legs, which we think came from the glass, but very superficial," Cara said.
"He’s only 18 months so it’s hard to say fully how he is as he can’t communicate with us. We can assume he has been aching as he will have had some force from the impact.
"We’ve had a couple of wake ups in the night which isn’t usual for him, but have been doing paracetamol and ibruprofen and that seems to be fine.
"He was asleep when the truck hit, which means he would have been as relaxed as possible, which will have helped with whiplash too.
"We were told that if he had been forward facing he would have risked severe spinal injury or even internal decapitation."
She said it took a while to realise just how fortunate they'd been.
Cara added: "I think adrenalin just takes over and all I cared about was him. It was only when I sat down in someone’s house that took us in that I realised I was so sore and bruised and then when I walked outside a couple of hours later and saw the car I think it really hit me.
"The car was an estate so thank God for the huge boot space. The boot was completely gone so it could have been devastating in a smaller car."
For maximum safety, parents are advised to keep children in rear facing car seats until fully outgrown - crossing their legs if needs be and taking frequent breaks during long journeys.
