Kat Meider’s Audi Coupe on its side after the accident.
AN ISLAND woman said she was lucky to be alive after her car left the road and plummeted part of the way down a 30ft embankment last Friday night.
The single-vehicle accident happened at a bend on Long Lane, Newport, at around 11.30pm.
Kat Meider, the driver of the Audi Coupe, was taken to St Mary’s Hospital, Newport, where she was treated for a gashed head, bruising and whiplash injuries.
The 29-year-old customer support officer, of Alvington Road, Carisbrooke, was returning home after a night out with colleagues from Britten-Norman, Bembridge. A breath test proved negative.
She said: "I braked to slow for an oncoming double-decker bus and somehow spun 180 degrees, broke through the verge, hedgeline and barbed-wire fence and ended up on my side down the embankment.
"I’m not sure how I did it but after I smelt the petrol I managed to climb through the drivers’ side window and stagger up the embankment to the road. It all happened in pitch darkness.
"Thankfully, the bus had stopped and some wonderful people looked after me until an ambulance arrived.
"All I know is, I am incredibly lucky to have escaped with my injuries. I somehow missed two trees which the police have told me would have cut my car in half if I’d hit them.
"It is pretty damned scary where I ended up and I’m very lucky to have survived. The build quality of the car had a lot to do with me surviving. I’m not sure how the car did not roll down to the bottom as it is quite steep.
"The whole thing has made me look at life in a totally different way."
Reporter: jonm@iwcpmail.co.uk