| NEWS |  | | | | | SPORT | | | | COMPETITIONS | | | Confronting the clampers
Reporter Alex Hayes went to a car compound near Iver to collect a car which had been towed away by a clamping company.
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'We thought we were going to die'
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| The Marks' car was crushed when the hoarding collapsed |
A COUPLE from Ruislip were faced with a near death experience over Easter while they were away in Spain.
Ray and Wendy Marks met two friends from Windsor for a few days break in Majorca, when their hire car was crushed by a huge advertising board on Saturday.
Ray and his wife Wendy, 53, had to be pulled from the wreckage of the Ford Focus by paramedics at the resort of Palameres when the advertising hoarding collapsed on top of them.
Ray 59, of Stowe Crescent, said: "We thought we were going to die. We were suffering from so much pain because we were stuck at the back.
"The front of the car where our friends were sitting was fine but it was the back which got completely crushed.
"We had the police, paramedics and the fire brigade there to help us and the police officer said to us after that he couldn't believe we got out of it alive.
"I am amazed we haven't broken anything but we are in a lot of pain."
Ray said he and his wife could feel a liquid dripping on them and were terrified it was petrol from the car, but luckily it turned out to be water from the board which was on top of them.
Ray said: "The board was massive, about 40ft high, I would say it was taller than my house and it absolutely smashed the car.
"If this can happen once it can happen twice. We were lucky this time but next time others won't be.
The couple have contacted the British Embassy in Spain who have put them in touch with a British solicitor who will help them take legal action.
Ray a self employed caterer and Wendy who works for British Airways have three children, Elliott, 18, Ashley, 23 and Samantha, 26.
Ray, said: "We didn't tell the children until we got back because we didn't want to worry them. But when we explained what happened they broke down into tears.
"Even now just talking about what we went through brings back horrible memories.
"We haven't broken anything but we have got bruises, internal injuries and we were hit on the head by the roof of the car after the board collapsed on it."
Wendy said: "When it happened I told my husband I thought we were going to die. I was just waiting for the next thing to fall on us and finish us off.
"I keep looking around to see what could fall on me and my other phobia at the moment is wind, because it was really windy that day."
Ray and Wendy flew home on Tuesday, but can not return to work because of their injuries.
They have been told by their doctor it will take up to six weeks to recover.
5:34pm Wednesday 26th March 2008
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CommentPosted by: Steve, Hayes on 5:51pm Wed 26 Mar 08
Wow, this is real good local news,i am shocked the hillingdon times did not send a reporter to cover the storey!!!
Wow, this is real good local news,i am shocked the hillingdon times did not send a reporter to cover the storey!!!
Posted by: mary, Hillingdon on 6:33pm Wed 26 Mar 08
What next? someone from Hayes who breaks wind while shopping in Ikea at Brent Cross. This is hardly local news.
What next? someone from Hayes who breaks wind while shopping in Ikea at Brent Cross. This is hardly local news.
Posted by: charlotte, Ruislip on 8:36pm Wed 26 Mar 08
Stories like this make me angry. Not so long ago if this happened, the first thoughts of the people would be 'Thank god we're alive to tell the tale' and 'Hey, that was close but we ARE alive'. Not now though - it's straight off to a solicitor with them to see how much they can claim. I hope the greedy pair find no happiness with any money they do get. !!! And - why is this such great local news ??? What next - woman breaks nail while boarding aircraft and sue's BA !!!
Stories like this make me angry. Not so long ago if this happened, the first thoughts of the people would be 'Thank god we're alive to tell the tale' and 'Hey, that was close but we ARE alive'. Not now though - it's straight off to a solicitor with them to see how much they can claim. I hope the greedy pair find no happiness with any money they do get. !!! And - why is this such great local news ??? What next - woman breaks nail while boarding aircraft and sue's BA !!!
Posted by: Stevey, Northolt on 8:33am Thu 27 Mar 08
[bold]The couple have contacted the British Embassy in Spain who have put them in touch with a British solicitor who will help them take legal action.[/bold]
So thats why we have embassies abroad.
The couple have contacted the British Embassy in Spain who have put them in touch with a British solicitor who will help them take legal action.
So thats why we have embassies abroad.
Posted by: sam, ash, ell, ruislip on 10:23pm Thu 27 Mar 08
hope this happens to you lot one day. They were my parents in that car. We came close to losing both of our parents in 1 accident!
hope this happens to you lot one day. They were my parents in that car. We came close to losing both of our parents in 1 accident!
Posted by: Chris, Ruislip on 11:27am Fri 28 Mar 08
How typical are the first 3 comments and reflective of the negative world we live in. Local press is for issues [bold]AND[/bold] lives of its residents. Would your 'attempts' at degrading humour and immature sarcasim be the same if they had died? After viewing the picture it is obvious there is no exaggeration to the severity of the accident and wish a swift recovery to all involved.
How typical are the first 3 comments and reflective of the negative world we live in. Local press is for issues
AND lives of its residents. Would your 'attempts' at degrading humour and immature sarcasim be the same if they had died? After viewing the picture it is obvious there is no exaggeration to the severity of the accident and wish a swift recovery to all involved.
Posted by: Chris, Ruislip on 11:28am Fri 28 Mar 08
How typical are the first 3 comments and reflective of the negative world we live in. Local press is for issues [bold]AND[/bold] lives of its residents. Would your 'attempts' at degrading humour and immature sarcasim be the same if they had died? After viewing the picture it is obvious there is no exaggeration to the severity of the accident and wish a swift recovery to all involved.
How typical are the first 3 comments and reflective of the negative world we live in. Local press is for issues
AND lives of its residents. Would your 'attempts' at degrading humour and immature sarcasim be the same if they had died? After viewing the picture it is obvious there is no exaggeration to the severity of the accident and wish a swift recovery to all involved.
Posted by: becky hudson, Datchet on 1:32pm Fri 28 Mar 08
Hi all - glad your all ok !!!
What a shock !
becky
Hi all - glad your all ok !!!
What a shock !
becky
Posted by: Jo and Steve, Hillingdon on 2:03pm Fri 28 Mar 08
I have just seen this article We both hope you have a speedy recovery and wish you both well.
I have just seen this article We both hope you have a speedy recovery and wish you both well.
Posted by: Mark, London on 3:57pm Fri 28 Mar 08
I work for the Press Complaints Commission and I have to say this an extremely poor piece of journalism.
It looks like it has been written by a teenager and is clearly mocking the ordeal these people have been through.
Irrespective of everyones views on insurance claims etc you only have to look at the wreck to see how lucky these people are to be alive.
To quote the lady as saying she now 'has a phobia about wind' is unforgivable and how this lacklustre piece of writing has got past an editor is beyond me.
Hope all are well and recovering.
This is NOT how you report serious news.
Mark
I work for the Press Complaints Commission and I have to say this an extremely poor piece of journalism.
It looks like it has been written by a teenager and is clearly mocking the ordeal these people have been through.
Irrespective of everyones views on insurance claims etc you only have to look at the wreck to see how lucky these people are to be alive.
To quote the lady as saying she now 'has a phobia about wind' is unforgivable and how this lacklustre piece of writing has got past an editor is beyond me.
Hope all are well and recovering.
This is NOT how you report serious news.
Mark
Posted by: Charlotte, Ruislip on 6:20pm Fri 28 Mar 08
Having read back through this report I actually apologise to this family for what I said previously in haste. The guy above is right - this IS extremely bad reporting as at first it appears that this couple weren't hurt & were just playing up for insurance purposes. As he says, the comment about the 'wind phobia' just smacked of insurance claim nonsense. Having read through it properly I can see how frightening this must have been and how, rightly so, they say unless checked this could happen again and next time kill someone. So my apologies for any upset or offence I caused and I hope all are recovering well now.
Having read back through this report I actually apologise to this family for what I said previously in haste. The guy above is right - this IS extremely bad reporting as at first it appears that this couple weren't hurt & were just playing up for insurance purposes. As he says, the comment about the 'wind phobia' just smacked of insurance claim nonsense. Having read through it properly I can see how frightening this must have been and how, rightly so, they say unless checked this could happen again and next time kill someone. So my apologies for any upset or offence I caused and I hope all are recovering well now.
Posted by: Donald, Ruislip on 11:20pm Mon 31 Mar 08
What a sad society we live in these days. All we hear are from people with a chip on their shoulder, nothing positive to say, a bunch of moaners.
What happened in Spain came out of the blue and struck a family away to have an Easter break. It could have happened to anyone, they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and it was not their fault. Neither was it an “Act of God”, I do not subscribe to this excuse. In engineering, 99% of failures are human error. Things do not just collapse; somewhere in the manufacturing process of the huge mast there was a defect. Looking at the close-up photographs of the broken mast, it is plain to see that the weld of one of the joints in the sections of pipe that made up the mast, failed. Human error. Poor design, faulty welding, no allowance made for high winds, an overlarge advertising hoarding presenting a huge area to the wind, high on top of a tall mast giving large leverage to the huge load. A failure waiting to happen. The only “Act of God” was Ray and Wendy being on the spot when it failed. Their bit of good luck was the mast hitting a concrete post on the way down, deflecting it far enough towards the front of the car. If the mast had hit the car, it would have been a funeral for four.
Some of the first comments display a certain amount of ignorance, arrogance and stupidity. What happened to the ‘milk of human kindness’? Stop and think, if this had happened to you, what would you have done? Who would you turn to in a foreign country where you do not speak the language and know nobody? One of your own naturally, the British Embassy. In case you did not know, that is what it is there for, to look after British people in distress. As for the other stupid comments by Mary of Hillingdon and Steve of Hayes, surely the interest of the paper is to report on and for local people in the immediate locale or abroad.
I have just been to see Ray and Wendy, my neighbours for 22 years, Ray is still bent
at the waist and his head is down as he has a problem with his neck and Wendy has some internal injuries, rib damage and a very sore neck. I dare say they shall both also suffer mental trauma for some time to come.
What a sad society we live in these days. All we hear are from people with a chip on their shoulder, nothing positive to say, a bunch of moaners.
What happened in Spain came out of the blue and struck a family away to have an Easter break. It could have happened to anyone, they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and it was not their fault. Neither was it an “Act of God”, I do not subscribe to this excuse. In engineering, 99% of failures are human error. Things do not just collapse; somewhere in the manufacturing process of the huge mast there was a defect. Looking at the close-up photographs of the broken mast, it is plain to see that the weld of one of the joints in the sections of pipe that made up the mast, failed. Human error. Poor design, faulty welding, no allowance made for high winds, an overlarge advertising hoarding presenting a huge area to the wind, high on top of a tall mast giving large leverage to the huge load. A failure waiting to happen. The only “Act of God” was Ray and Wendy being on the spot when it failed. Their bit of good luck was the mast hitting a concrete post on the way down, deflecting it far enough towards the front of the car. If the mast had hit the car, it would have been a funeral for four.
Some of the first comments display a certain amount of ignorance, arrogance and stupidity. What happened to the ‘milk of human kindness’? Stop and think, if this had happened to you, what would you have done? Who would you turn to in a foreign country where you do not speak the language and know nobody? One of your own naturally, the British Embassy. In case you did not know, that is what it is there for, to look after British people in distress. As for the other stupid comments by Mary of Hillingdon and Steve of Hayes, surely the interest of the paper is to report on and for local people in the immediate locale or abroad.
I have just been to see Ray and Wendy, my neighbours for 22 years, Ray is still bent
at the waist and his head is down as he has a problem with his neck and Wendy has some internal injuries, rib damage and a very sore neck. I dare say they shall both also suffer mental trauma for some time to come.
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