April 2009
All ready for the trip

 
17th April 2009
Watching the sun go down in the desert West of Sidi Akhfennir

 

26th April 2009
At 14:56 on the AP 7 motorway just outside Torrreblanca in Spain we were hit from behind by a French truck, we were doing 58mph at time of impact, the 7.5 ton truck that hit us was doing approximately 90-95mph on impact.

Lucy was able to climb out of the vehicle almost immediately despite a nasty head wound and knee injury. I was trapped between my seat and the roof that had caved in around me during the impact and subsequent multiple rolls that our car did as we were sent off the motorway and down the embankment.

Fire crews arrive at 15:16 (20 minutes after the impact) and struggle to free me from my Patrol.
 

 

 
As I was trapped on the drivers side, the only way to get me out was to cut the passenger side pillar out and raise the roof enough for me to climb through and exit via the passenger side. At 15:48 (almost an hour after the collision) I was able to climb free from the wreckage.

 
27th April 2009
We visited the garage where my Patrol had been recovered to to try and recover some personal belongings.... it was then we realise how close we had come to never returning home.

When we arrived the garage owner put his hands together and looked at the sky, he gestured that we were lucky to be here.