Horse power no match for Class A Mercedes

STEPHEN JOYCE was happy to be alive yesterday after a horse crashed through his car windscreen when he was travelling home from work.

The 30-year-old was returning home after finishing his shift at Shannon Airport when a horse bolted from a field and smashed through his Class A Mercedes.

Stephen had almost reached his home close to the East Clare village of Bodyke when the horse ran on to the Tuamgraney road and plunged into his car at 4.30am.

He can only remember that the horse ran out a gateway and crashed through his windscreen.

“It was a bit of a belt to get alright. I got a fierce shock. Suddenly he was right in front of me. It very hard to see these things moving that quick at night,” he said.

The horse died straight away and Stephen, who is unmarried, was relieved to have escaped from the vehicle with his life.

“These things happen and I’m relieved that it wasn’t anything worse. He gave me a few scratches to the face and arm but there was nothing major,” he said.

An ambulance from Limerick rushed to the scene and Stephen was taken to hospital but he was not kept overnight. He was recovering at home in his parents John and Moira’s house in Bodyke yesterday.

“I know I’m lucky and even though I feel a bit sore today it could have been much worse. The horse fell through the whole car once I got out. It probably looks a bit worse than it was,” he said.

Gardaí from Killaloe who were called to the scene of the freak smash described Stephen’s escape as miraculous.

“The motorist is lucky to be alive. This could have been a very serious accident,” a garda spokesperson said.

Gardaí at Killaloe had to cut the mare from the Mercedes car in the garda station yard last night.

“It a fairly difficult job and it looks as if we’ll have to call in outside help. We know who the owner is but we have not been able to make contact yet,” a spokesperson for Killaloe gardaí said.