Girl escaped decapitation by inches in freak car accident

An eight-year-old girl has narrowly escaped with her life after a falling branch hit a car that she was travelling in and came within inches of decapitating her.

Schoolgirl Faith Molineux was badly hurt when the huge 60-foot branch smashed through the car's front windscreen and into the back of the car where she was sitting.

She suffered damage to her vision and will have to undergo reconstructive facial surgery for a shattered left eye socket and cheek caused by the freak accident on on Rugeley Road, in Cannock, Staffordshire.

Faith also suffered a broken arm in the accident - but her parents Daniel and Natalie Molineux are thankful that she is alive after being told had been just a little taller she would "almost certainly" have been killed.

Faith's aunt Alisha Vivien, 18, who was at the wheel at the time of the accident, said she has suffered recurring flashbacks to the "horrific" crash scene.

She and her boyfriend Nathaniel Hailey, also 18, escaped with minor injuries but were left in shock by the accident.

The family have paid tribute passerby Pauline Standley, who stopped and comforted Faith as they waited for emergency services to arrive.

"We've heard she crawled in through a hole in the back passenger window and stayed with Faith, trying to keep her conscious as they waited for paramedics," said Mr Molineux.

"She deserves a medal for what she did and we cannot thank her enough."

He has raised questions over why the overhanging branch was not cut back when the Forestry Commission checked the road only a few months earlier.

A spokesman for the West Midlands Ambulance Service said the accident appeared to be a case of "dreadful timing".

"A large branch sheered off a tree just as the car was passing," the spokesman said.

"Part of it went straight through the windscreen, narrowly missing the two front seat occupants and struck the eight year old girl in the back.

"Other road users were quickly on the scene and pulled the branch off the car which suffered considerable damage."

The Forestry Commission confirmed that the stretch of road had been checked a few months earlier and no trees were identified as a risk at the time.

"It is not clear why this particular branch fell and the local forest team will continue to provide support and advice," he added.