A relieved mum has said that her teenage son is "ridiculously lucky" to still be alive after he lost control of his car and plunged into a river.
Vicky Renshow has revealed the harrowing incident, from which her son was extremely fortunate to only escape with a 'few scratches' on April 14.
Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue shared a dramatic picture from the scene in Kirkby-in-Ashfield showing the red car upside down in the River Erewash, NottinghamshireLive reports.
Ms Renshow described how her son had been driving to work at about 7am on an "awful stretch of the road" when he "lost the back end of the car".
She explained: "There is a bend just after the train line and it gets very slippery.
"He basically lost the back of his car, and lost control of the car and just pulled on itself straight into River Erewash. It was absolutely fine until he hit the Erewash when the car rolled into it. He was then upside down in the Erewash."
The mum continued: "He was lucky, ridiculously lucky because the passenger window smashed from the impact. He then managed to climb out of the passenger window - it was a very small gap.
"He managed to do that while the car was obviously flooded with water. If you look at the photo, you think that is a fatality right there," she added. "I genuinely do not understand how he got up, got out and walked away."
Ms Renshow said her son "scrambled up" to the bank of the canal, where he flagged a woman who was passing by. The woman stopped and called the emergency services.
"I am just so grateful to this woman", the mum added. "I do not know her name but I want to say thank you. She was a knight in a shining armour because if you had not got out the way in which you look at that road, you probably would not have noticed he was even there."
The mum, who was away in Norfolk with her husband at the time of the incident, said she rushed straight home after getting a call from her sister-in-law. "I did a lot of crying. It was the longest journey of my life", she recalled.
"I knew he was okay, but until I had physically seen him I could not settle. I was stressed out and emotional.
"I was desperate to see him in person. However much someone says to you, it does not put that worry out of your mind until you have seen them."
She added: "He has come out with a couple of scratches on his hands, shock - and that's it. Completely walked away from it."
He was taken to hospital for further checks. Ms Renshow said her teenager now wants to get back into the driver's seat.
"We were going to look at new cars today. He is absolutely mortified that his car is gone because that was his personal car that he paid for."
Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue service shared a photo from the scene on Saturday morning, April 15, and said: "Yesterday morning. Firefighters from Ashfield, Alfreton, Highfields and Newark Fire Stations were mobilised to an RTC in Kirkby in Ashfield.
"Nobody was seriously injured. Keeping our communities safe."
