This is the heart-stopping moment a father on the school run miraculously survived a falling tree that crashed through his windscreen – writing off his £18,000 VW in an instant.
Adrian Stefaniu, 40, was on his way to pick up his son Alex, 13, from school on September 25 when he pulled up at a set of traffic lights in Chelmsford, Essex.
Incredible dash cam footage captures the moment the father-of-two drives forward as the lights turn green.
Incredible dashcam footage captured the moment Adrian Stefaniu, 40, miraculously survived a huge tree (left) falling on his car in Chelmsford, Essex
Seconds later, with almost no warning at all, a huge tree on the left topples over on top of his car, almost crushing him.
As the dashcam toppled off the dashboard, Adrian can be seen visibly shaken by the impact.
The video shows him sitting in his car in shock after the impact which he likened to being ‘hit by a train’.
The radio continues talking in the background as Adrian checks his phone and passers-by run over to ask him if he is alright.
‘I’m good thank you,’ he replies in relief, before adding: ‘I am scared.’
The father-of-two was on his way to pick up his son Alex, 13, from school on September 25 when, with almost no warning at all, a huge tree toppled over on top of his car,
At the time of the accident, on September 25, a yellow weather warning for strong winds of up to 65mph had been in place across Essex, causing a number of trees to fall.
His car took the brunt of the collision with the tree’s huge branches smashing through the glass at the front of his car.
Adrian’s customised Volkswagen Passat was written off in the accident as his windows and mirrors were smashed and the upper chassis squashed, with only the tailgate surviving any damage.
Having only bought his ‘pride and joy’ four months earlier for £18,000, he was devastated but he believes it saved his life.
Adrian’s customised Volkswagen Passat, that he had bought four months earlier for £18,000, took the brunt of the collision
The car was completely destroyed in the accident and had to be written off but he believes it saved his life
Adrian, an electrician from Chelmsford, Essex, said: ‘The Passat saved my life. If I had been in another car I’m sure I wouldn’t be here today.
‘I loved that car, I was really sad it was written off. It was my pride and joy, I’d only had it for four months.
‘Apart from the tailgate, everything was damaged, even the alloy wheels. The whole upper part of the car was squashed. The doors, the windows, the mirrors, everything was ruined.’
However, he can’t believe that he is here to tell the tale and thinks he is ‘lucky’ he was driving slowly and that his son wasn’t in the car.
At the time of the accident, a yellow weather warning for strong winds of up to 65mph had been in place across Essex. Pictured: Where the tree trunk snapped
As a result of the impact, the whole upper part of the car was squashed (right) as well as the doors, mirrors and windows were ruined (left, shards of glass on the seat after the smash)
Speaking of the incident he said: ‘I was just picking my son up like I do every day and had just pulled off from the traffic lights and it felt like a train had hit me.
‘I was lucky I wasn’t driving any faster than 15mph otherwise I think it would have killed me.
‘If the lights had been green and I’d been able to drive right through, it would have been a different story. I’m just glad Alex wasn’t in the car.
‘Just 15 seconds before the tree fell there had been a group of people standing there and if they had been there a little later it would have hit them.
‘It was such a shock, I just didn’t see it coming, I had to be helped out of the car. Even though I said I was fine, I really wasn’t.
‘My knees wouldn’t stop shaking and I just had to sit down, I couldn’t stand up.
Adrian, an electrician from Chelmsford, Essex, pictured with his son Alex, 13, can’t believe that he is here to tell the tale and thinks he is ‘lucky’ he was driving slowly and that his son wasn’t in the car
‘I didn’t want to cry, it just happened. I think it was a mixture of shock and relief that my son wasn’t in the car too.’
Adrian is still recovering from the shock of the accident and says he sometimes wakes up and thinks it was all a dream.
‘I’m still having dreams about what happened,’ he said.
‘At first I would wake up and think it was just my imagination, but then my wife told me that it had really happened.’