Family ‘thought bomb had gone off' when ‘drunk driver' ploughed through living room
The home of Alex and Wayne Richardson in Strelley, Nottingham, was left with a gaping hole in its facade after the incident early on Sunday.
Mrs Richardson, 44, said she feared their home was on fire after the Vauxhall Astra careered off a roundabout, through a hedge and into their home.
'The car went through the hedge, over the little wall in the garden, through the window into the living across the room and then into the kitchen wall,' she said.
'How lucky we were to have been [upstairs]. If it had been to the left or the right, we wouldn't have been able to stay in the property, we would have been killed.'
Nottinghamshire Police arrested a 22-year-old man who fled the scene on suspicion of a series of offences including drink-driving. He has since been released on bail.
Mrs Richardson said she rushed her two children, aged 15 and 12, to their car before they realised that the Astra had crashed into the house.
'My husband said it was as if a bomb had gone off,' she said. 'We bolted upright, saying, 'What was that?'.
'My husband ran down, and I followed him. The dust was so thick that I honestly thought the house was on fire, so I was screaming at the kids 'to get up and put on some clothes - we've got to get out now!'
'It was horrendous, I'm 44 and it's the scariest thing I've ever been through. I've had a car accident before, but this was way scarier. My concern was all about the kids, getting the dog out of the house. We got in the car and out of the house.
'The police responded really quickly, and then the fire engines came within minutes of them. We weren't allowed in the house until a structural engineer came and looked. It was quite a few hours before he had been. They were really good with us.'
The family thought their pet tortoise had died in the crash – only for it to be found alive.
'Every living being in the property survived, luckily,' Mrs Richardson said. 'We are all shaken up, obviously. My daughter couldn't even stay in the house because she feels so traumatised.
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