Tim Yandall and his mother in law Dallas Hargreaves discuss their ordeal as they both escaped virtually uninjured after a massive tree fell on Tim's car as they were standing beside it at Cornwall Park on Sunday.
A freak accident involving a logging truck and a car has left one motorist with stitches after a small log from the truck he was following penetrated his windscreen.
Pictures of the extremely close call on the Te Puke Highway have been posted to a popular Facebook motoring page.
Theposter, who wishes to remain anonymous, said he and the driver, a colleague, were driving to Te Puke when a small branch flew out from the undercarriage of the truck around 11am yesterday.
"Missile came out of the undercarriage, straight into his chest.
The "freak" accident involving a logging truck and a car left the motorist with stitches. Photo / Facebook
"Then we looked up and all I saw was this massive tree falling towards us. It was probably halfway down by then.
Yandall braced himself by the door on the driver's side of the vehicle, while his mother-in-law dived into the passenger's seat and crouched to take the impact.
The branch went straight through the windscreen. Photo / Facebook
They were taken to hospital in shock but relatively and miraculously unscathed. Yandall suffered scratches and bruises to his head and Hargreaves had bruising on her legs.
The tree, which landed on four cars, smashed the windscreen of Yandall's vehicle and mangled the bonnet, writing it off.