Woman lucky to be alive after crash in driveway.

THE husband of a York hospital worker crushed by her car in a freak accident said today she was lucky to be alive.

Jayne Rollinson, 31, was getting into her silver Ford Focus when it suddenly shot backwards and pinned her against the wall of her home, near Selby.

Neighbours rushed to the scene, in Wood Lane, Thorpe Willoughby, after they heard a loud crunch and screams.

They eased the car away from the wall and released Mrs Rollinson, who suffered a collapsed lung, a broken collar bone, broken ribs and a deep gash in her leg. She was said to be in a stable condition today in the high dependency unit of York District Hospital, where, coincidentally, she works as a resuscitation training officer. Her husband, Martyn, 36, who works at Stillingfleet Mine, today thanked his neighbours for their swift response.

He said: "They did a fantastic job. I was down the pit at the time so there was nothing I could do. Jayne broke her collar bone clean in two and broke every rib down her left-hand side, apart from one. She's lucky to be alive."

Mr Rollinson said his wife was about to set off for work at the hospital and had turned the car's engine on to activate the windscreen blowers.

He said: "It looks as if the car was set in reverse gear and shot backwards without warning.

"Jayne was only half-way in the car with one of her legs still outside and the driver's door open. The car reversed down the driveway and pinned her against the wall of the house." Peter Kitchen and his son Matthew, 15, were among the neighbours who pushed the car back up the drive to free Mrs Rollinson.

Mr Kitchen's wife, Jill, said today: "It was awful. We heard a crunch and a scream and everybody dashed across.

"Jayne was in shock and in a lot of pain and was complaining about not being able to breathe properly.

"I took a blanket across and we waited with her until the ambulance arrived."

Updated: 12:23 Saturday, November 17, 2001