'Miracle' toddler asleep in £25 cot unscathed after car smashes into family tent
A tourist crushed when a speeding car smashed into their tent has been told his two-year-old son escaped without a scratch.
Dan Staniforth was socialising with friends on the campsite in west Wales with his little boy Sonny asleep in the family tent just a few feet away. The airborne Ford Fiesta flattened the tent but toddler Sonny escaped the "carnage" because he was protected by his £25 travel cot.
But keen surfer Dan, 44, suffered life-changing crush injuries and was airlifted to hospital where he is in a “serious” condition. His partner Emma Lou Lewis was treated in hospital for an arm injury but later released.
The family were staying at a packed campsite in Newgale, Pembrokeshire, on Saturday night when the blue Ford Fiesta went out of control. Sonny, who will be three in October, was fast asleep in the tent and the camp site owner said he was saved by his cot.
Dan was seriously injured in the incident, although his son escaped without a scratch (WALES NEWS SERVICE)
Campsite owner Mike Harris has supplied CCTV to investigating police (Sky News)Two surgeons who were camping on the site gave medical help until paramedics arrived on the scene.Mr Staniforth was flown by Coastguard helicopter 100 miles to the University Hospital of Wales where he underwent surgery for pelvic and internal injuries. His family, who run a catering supply business in Cardiff are at his bedside. Another eight casualties were taken to hospital in Haverfordwest, Carmarthen and Swansea, but police said only three are still detained.
Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him
Police are investigating the accident at 10.30pm on Saturday night and appealing for dashcam footage of the Ford Fiesta which was travelling on the A487 between Haverfordwest and St Davids. Locals claimed there were seven in the car and the driver only passed his test in June.
The remains of the tents damaged in the incident (John Myers)The narrow road running between the beach and the Newgale campsite has a 30mph limit but the car was clocked doing 80mph before it reached the village. Campers at the scene claimed three passengers in the car ran off leaving the driver trapped inside the wreckage. Camp site owner Mike Harris has given CCTV of the crash to police.
He said: “The car literally came onto the campsite, rolled over the tent and landed on top of a family who were enjoying themselves. It was the same family who had a baby in the tent at the time. So the immediate concern for everybody was what happened to the baby? When they went into the tent, the cot was there and it had managed to protect the baby which is a miracle.”
Camper Fern Wilson said: “We helped move the car over - there were a lot of young people in the car. There were girls crying and screaming in massive shock, that was the scariest thing. A lot of people came to help, there were first aiders and a nurse, everyone pulled in to help which was great to see.”
Peter Morgan, councillor for Newgale, said: “It’s a miracle no one was killed - the car must have been going at speed to fly off the road and hit the tent. There were two surgeons and other medics camping on the site so they ran to help and may have saved lives. It’s a well-run camp site and very popular with families and surfers at this time of year.”
A bouquet of flowers left at the site of the accident (John Myers)Hundreds of campers packed up and left the site on Sunday as Dyfed-Powys Police sealed off the crash scene for their investigation. Crash investigators are trying to trace the movements of the Fiesta on the A487 leading up to the crash.
A spokesman said: “At shortly after 10.30pm several calls were made to emergency services reporting the one-car collision at Newgale Campsite. The blue Ford Fiesta, which contained a number of occupants, is believed to have been travelling from the direction of Roch in the St Davids direction when it lost control and veered off the road. It crashed into the campsite, colliding with a number of people and a tent, injuring nine, including passengers in the car. The injuries sustained by two of them are described as serious. They remain in hospital at this time.”
The tents being removed from the scene (John Myers)The road was closed to allow investigations and reopened at around 7.45am today. The spokesman added: “We are especially interested in any dash-cam footage or doorbell footage which may have captured the vehicle being driven from Roch to the scene of the collision at Newgale.”
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