A YOUNG mum has told how she watched in horror as an out-of-control car crashed into her baby’s buggy, catapulting it into the air.

Jayne Critchell has spoken of her relief after her three-month-old daughter escaped with a bruise on her chin.

Jayne was walking along Salisbury Road in Blandford with a friend and their two children on Tuesday afternoon when a red Peugeot 206 mounted the pavement.

The shocked 20-year-old said: “We were going into town to do some shopping when there was a quick flash. I saw the car smashing into Ruby’s buggy.

“It went flying behind me and I could hear Ruby’s screams as I was flung onto the car bonnet. I remember seeing the male driver’s face before falling on top of my friend Laura’s two-year-old son Riley who was in his pram.”

Jayne, who lives near the crash scene, added: “Luckily Ruby had been strapped into her buggy, which was knocked over.

“I could see a lady getting her out. She kept saying my baby was fine but I didn’t believe her. I was convinced that she had been very badly injured.

“I was shaking and a policewoman told me to get into a car while Ruby was taken to an ambulance.

“I was really worried and wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

“Laura rang Ruby’s dad, my partner Shane, at work. He rushed to be with us and he and Ruby were airlifted to Dorset County Hospital. I was taken there by ambulance.

“I didn’t see Ruby again until we were all at the hospital. When they told me Ruby had escaped with a little bruise on her chin, I was so thankful because she could so easily have been killed.

“We both left hospital that night. I’ve got bruising on my leg and my hipbone is really sore. I’m still in a state of shock and can’t believe that we all survived. It’s incredible.

“But I’m too frightened to go out. Ruby is my only child and, after what’s happened, I just want to protect her.”

A Dorset Police spokesman said the Peugeot driver, who was treated at the scene, was believed to have taken ill at the wheel. There were no arrests.

A rear-seat passenger was taken to Poole Hospital as a precaution. He added: “Everyone involved is very lucky; it could have been so much worse.”