Woman, 83, hit by truck saved by landing on her dog

A woman miraculously cheated death when she was thrown up into the air after being hit by a pick-up truck and landed on her huge 15 stone dog. Joyce Macdonald was cushioned by the sheer bulk of six-year-old English Mastiff Amber after she was mown down on a zebra crossing.



The initial impact sent Mrs MacDonald, 83, spinning a foot into the air. Four schoolgirls passing at the time called 999 and Mrs MacDOnald was rushed to hospital. She suffered serious back injuries, cuts and bruises in the accident last month in Hornchurch, Essex.

Now she struggles to walk without help, but doctors are going to fit her with a brace. Mrs MacDonald's daughter-in-law, Barbara Macdonald, 60, said: 'She was so lucky Amber broke her fall. At 83 she could have been killed outright.'



Mrs MacDonald likes to take six-year-old Amber out for a mile-and-a-half walk every day. Police are still deciding whether to press charges against the truck driver.