Miracle escape as baby plucked from under the wheels of car after horror smash

The seven men leapt into action after a car ploughed into Jackie Stephens as she pushed a buggy containing her grandson Luke Stephens.

After the black Ford Fiesta mounted the curb Jackie, 61, was left lying in the road with serious injuries and Luke was trapped under the chassis.

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A group of drinkers from a nearby pub ran outside and found the tot in his pushchair jammed under the wheels and his grandmother unconscious on the pavement.

The vehicle was dripping fuel onto the ground and the rescuers feared it could ignite and kill the terrified infant at any second.

Six men then hoisted the car into the air and one of them managed to free the baby - who miraculously escaped with minor cuts and bruises.

However, Jackie suffered brain damage in the smash and after undergoing an emergency operation is still fighting for her life in intensive care.

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But her husband Roger, 65, a retired planning inspector, said it is a "miracle" the accident was not a double tragedy.

He said: "Jackie was taking the baby around the block in his pushchair. She was on the pavement when a car came down the hill and smashed into them.

"The men from the pub heard the bang and came out to help. They lifted the car up to get the baby from under it.

"She is not out of the woods yet but it is miracle that Luke has survived. The people in that pub are heroes. They saved my grandson's life."

The horror smash happened at 3.30pm on Christmas Eve outside the packed Sportsmans Arms at Heamoor near Penzance, Cornwall.

None of the men involved want to talk about their actions but barmaid Faye Morris, 18, said: "We heard a huge bang from outside and everybody rushed out. The woman was lying on the pavement and looked unconscious.

"It took a few seconds before one of the lads realised there was a pushchair trapped under the wheels and a baby still inside it.

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"About six or seven of the men positioned themselves around the car and counted themselves in to lift it.

"Somehow they managed to untangle the buggy and pull the baby out. It's a miracle he wasn't more badly hurt. It would have collapsed on him if they hadn't of got him out so soon.

"They were brilliant to think and act so quickly. Someone fetched soil from plant pots and threw it on the petrol that had leaked out. It could have been worse if people hadn't reacted so well."

After the smash the driver abandoned his car and fled on foot, before returning to the scene where he was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving.

Jackie, a keen sailor and post office worker of Heamoor, was airlifted to Treliske Hospital in Truro and is in a critical but stable condition.

Luke - the son of Jacqueline's son Colin and wife Sam - suffered only cuts and bruises and was released from Derriford Hospital in Plymouth the next day.

A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall police said a 33-year-old driver was released on bail to reappear at Camborne police station on February 21.

He said: "The grandmother was walking with the child when they were hit by a car.

"The baby was trapped for a period in the buggy underneath the car. Thanks to the actions of others he only suffered minor injuries."