Andrew Kay needs to belt up!

Be careful of what you say, only a week ago I mentioned my mother and her warning that things will come back to ‘bite you on the bum’. Never was that more true.

Before the ink on the page was dry I received a text informing me that my parents had been in a major road accident. Talk about being bitten on the bum! There I am, mocking my mother and her wobbly status, when I discover that on an outing to the seaside with friends, the driver had blacked out at the wheel, crossed two lanes of oncoming traffic, run up a grass verge, hit a holly hedge, overturned the vehicle and then gone a further 100 metres on the roof.

“Dangling from the roof Dad released his belt and crawled out to help the others”

Mum and Dad were both onboard and, vigilant as ever, saved by the fact that they were strapped in and made of strong stuff. Dangling from the roof Dad released his belt and crawled out to help the others. Neither of them have sustained anything more than a small cut and bruising, a miracle for which I am so grateful.

Mum is worse for wear and a week on is still aching badly, but it could have been so much worse. And you have to feel sorry for the driver friend who, through no controllable fault of his own, drove them to this. How he must feel, injuries and no doubt a sense of guilt, it must be horrid.

Of course mum continues to deny that there is much wrong, even though for the present she can only sleep sat up in her motorised armchair and for the time being has to suffer dad’s rather limited skills in the kitchen. I would have thought that, what must have been a near death experience might have mellowed her stoicism, but it seems not.

When I questioned her about what happened she was rather excited that she had been airlifted by air ambulance to the nearest hospital. “What was that like?” I asked. “How would I know” she replied, “I was strapped to a spinal board and staring at the ceiling, I might has well have been on the ground.” Bless her, as ever, for taking things in her stride and playing down the drama. The lesson is– belt up – in both ways!