A 12-year-old girl was trapped underneath a safari bus after it careered off the road and hurtled down a mountain in Turkey. Greta Williams was on holiday with her family when the bus they were travelling in 'flipped around three or four times' after skidding offroad.
Holiday turns to horror
Greta, her eight-year-old sister Eiry-ana, mum Emma and mum's partner Lennard travelled from Wales to a resort in Alanya on July 15. A week into what was supposed to be a 10-day vacation, the family embarked on a day trip that included a bus drive along the Taurus mountain, travelling to the Green Canyon for a boat ride and trip to the zoo.
According to Emma, the 42C heat had melted the asphalt of the roads along the bus route, causing the driver to lose control.
She said: "The asphalt itself had melted so the driver had lost control and then we hurtled down sort of a bit of the mountain. We went off-road. He was trying to gain control, and there's a massive tree ahead of us, and I couldn't see quite clearly because obviously I was trying to find my children, make sure that we were okay."
"But it just all happened so quickly and the bus did flip around a few times. My daughter, unfortunately, Greta got stuck underneath the bus."
Rescue effort
Passengers from the bus, as well as those from buses on the road behind, quickly jumped to Greta's aid to rescue her from underneath the bus whilst her family watched on in "panic". Emma screamed for help, while eight-year-old Eiry-ana "thought Greta was dead" as she saw her trapped underneath the vehicle, WalesOnline reports.
A family from Newcastle were also on the bus that day and have described their lucky escape. Speaking to ChronicleLive, Chris Hartford said: "The bus went over, the next thing I know, we were lying there on the side of the bus with our seatbelts holding us up."
"From what the people on the other buses told me, we must have flipped around three or four times. It was a very scary moment and I just wanted to make sure that my family were safe."
"We then realised that a girl from another family, she must have only been around 12 or 13, was pinned under the bus. Around 30 of us helped to lift it back onto its wheels to free her."
Hospital treatment and recovery
Greta was freed from underneath the bus by helpers, and an ambulance arrived on the mountain side within 40 minutes. Emma said: "It was such a scary experience because obviously there was a massive language barrier we didn't understand what was going on. I couldn't go in with her. It was just horrific."
"It was really terrible for Greta. She's 12. She was awake through the whole process and she didn't know what was going on and she's never actually been in hospital overnight before. So, this was terribly scary for her."
X-rays revealed Greta had broken her pelvis and sacrum, and she remained in the hospital in Turkey with her family for eight days. On July 30, the family received medical repatriation and an air ambulance flew the family home to Rhoose before Greta was transported to The Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran, where she stayed for a further four days.
Emma said: "As we picked the superior insurance, the only thing I was worried about losing was my suitcase, not nearly my entire family."
"Luckily, we had fortunately paid for a superior insurance which was unlimited medical care and unlimited medical repatriation."
Communication of a third party between the Turkish hospital and the family's insurer proved difficult and Lennard was "relentless" in making sure that everything was taken care of and that Greta could get the care she needed whilst away from home.
Greta was discharged from The Grange on Monday, August 3, after receiving physiotherapy to help her use crutches to get in and out of bed as she has been placed on bed rest. Doctors have said that her recovery could take between eight to 12 weeks and hope full recovery in six months.
