Rachel Greenwood (33) and Siobhan Halligan (37) relived the terrifying moments on a Saturday morning in August 2005 in a town in Rochdale, England. They were jogging when a car careered towards them on the pavement, crushing the two women against a wall. "I thought we would die", says the older women.

They saw the Vauxhall Corsa, driven by an 18-year-old girl who lost control. “The car seemed to slide across the road towards us. I always thought I would be able to get out of the way if something like that happened but I couldn’t", says Miss Greenwood. As she lay on the ground after being hit she feared she was paralysed: "I couldn’t move at all after the accident because I was in shock."

Mrs Halligan, a mother of two children tells: “A district nurse passed by on her way to work and she rang my husband for me. I didn’t know what was wrong or if I was going to die on the side of the road.” Her husband James tells: “When I arrived it was a scene of absolute carnage, with two women lying on the ground. I could see Rachel had severe breaks to both her legs and my wife was lying motionless. A paramedic was with Rachel. I held my wife’s hand and tried to keep her awake.”

The girl who drove the car was taken to hospital with whiplash and shock. The two victims were taken to other hospitals. Mrs Halligan was treated for an injured foot and cuts to her face. With a leg cast and on crutches she has been allowed home on the same day. Her friend Rachel was more seriously injured. Both her legs were broken, the left one in four places while the right one had a compound fracture. Her shoulder and pelvis were broken in two places and her right collar bone was also broken. One of the pelvic breaks was near by her left hip joint. “I was in so much pain, I couldn’t scream loudly enough", she describes her condition right after the accident. On that day she had five hours of surgery on her legs and four days later another operation on her shoulder.

"I’ve had several panic attacks since the accident and moving my leg to have it washed is very painful", tells Rachel Greenwood who will not be able to walk for at least eight weeks. She is a teacher at a primary school. “I had been looking forward to a new job teaching a different class at school, but it will be New Year at least before I’m working. I hope to make a full recovery and start running again.” Both women are members of a running club. Mrs Halligan ran in the London Marathon in 2003.