A man told of the terrifying moment his vehicle flipped 180 degrees and landed in a gully.
Bryan Comb, 33, who has a farm at Tealing just outside Dundee, was going to visit friends near Lochgilphead on the West Coast when his Toyota Hilux pick-up truck landed on its roof.
As he looked through pictures showing the extent of the damage, the former Monifieth High School pupil said the whole event still hadn’t sunk in.
He said: “I was driving along a single-track road. It was dark and there was a sharp turn.
“I tried to apply the brakes but I collided with some boulders and the car flipped in mid-air.
“At that point, it felt like a scene from the film The Matrix — everything seemed to go in slow motion. I was conscious the whole time.”
Bryan was able to unclip his seatbelt and prise open one of the car’s doors.
Then his concern turned to his two springer spaniels, Rum and Coll.
He said: “When the vehicle landed, I got out of it within a minute. I thought there was a good chance the dogs were dead.
“I shouted and kicked the back of the vehicle but I couldn’t hear anything from them — and the car looked flattened. When people see the pictures, they ask me how did I survive this?”
As Bryan began to climb back up the embankment his vehicle had gone down, he assessed his injuries.
He said: “I was a little disoriented.
“Prior to the accident, I had arrived at the wrong property, so I was going to head back there to explain what had happened.
“As I was climbing up the embankment, I was still thinking my dogs were dead. But I knew I had to alert somebody to what had happened.”
Bryan had been taking the springer spaniels to a hunting event where they’d help collect game birds. He said: “Five minutes had probably elapsed since the crash took place and I was amazed when Rum just came up to me — he looked unscathed.
“At that point, I shouted for Coll. He appeared shortly after, with a small cut to his face. He was limping slightly but I was amazed they got out alive. I wasn’t sure if they had fallen out when the vehicle was in mid-air, or if they had managed to crawl out but we all made our way back to the property. When I arrived at the property I had been at earlier, I told the man there what had happened.
“I think he was more shocked than I was. I had blood all over my hands. I told them I had gone off road. He came to see what had happened and he couldn’t believe the extent of the damage. The shock of it all hasn’t really kicked in.
“The thing I’m most amazed about is the fact the dogs were OK. I have only a few minor cuts to my fingers and the dogs have recovered.”