Actress Roxanne Pallett has said she feared she would die after she crashed while competing in a stock car race.
The former Emmerdale star, 36, smashed into a concrete wall after losing control of the car just seconds into the competition.
She told the Daily Mirror: “The minute I pressed on the pedal, I knew there was too much power.
“I hadn’t even driven one lap but knew I was in trouble.
Former soap star Roxanne Pallett tells how she only just survived horrific crashhttps://t.co/DtfxMCqD5y pic.twitter.com/rDI0zMjb9X
— Daily Mirror (@DailyMirror) July 20, 2018
“I was flying towards the bend at speed, out of control. I took a deep breath and prayed to God I would make it.
“My heart sank, stomach knotted. I remember it in slow motion, knowing I would hit the wall and it’s the scariest thing… knowing your life is out of your hands.
“I felt crushing disappointment that this was it, life over.”
The actress, best known for starring as Jo Sugden in Emmerdale from 2005 until 2008, was taking part in a stock car race with her Minster FM co-host Ben Fry at a racetrack in York on Wednesday afternoon when the accident happened.
The crash left her trapped in the wreckage, unable to speak or move, and she said she struggled to remain conscious as firefighters cut her free.
She said: “I could feel myself drifting away, I wanted to just close my eyes.
“But I was terrified I would never wake up. I asked God to help me hold on because I wasn’t ready to go yet.”
She was left with two badly sprained wrists, extensive head-to-toe bruising and concussion and said her thoughts were of her boyfriend of eight months, Lee Walton, 40, as she was cut out of the wreckage.
Thank you to the Howard family for an incredible night @CastleHowardEst for their Great Gatsby evening. @lwalton78 you were beyond handsome. I felt like I was in a dream. pic.twitter.com/PKIcfUkw5I
— Roxanne Pallett (@RoxannePallett) July 13, 2018
She said: “I prayed in my mind to God. I said, ‘I’ve finally met the man I want to spend my life with and I need to stay here for him. Please let me live’.
“I was sitting there, scared and trembling, and all I could think was, ‘I just need Lee’. I pictured him at work and thought, ‘He doesn’t even know’.
“But Ben had called him and was at the side of the car repeating Lee’s words. He said, ‘Lee says stay awake, stay strong. He says how much he loves you’.
“Hearing that made me hold on.”