When the regional SVT station in Örebro City speak to Simon in Karlskoga, only two days have elapsed since his dramatic accident, and he’s already back at work.

“I’m a bit stiff and tender here and there, but things are fine”, he says. “I’m bolting things together – assembling products; my work’s okay.”

We agree to meet near the accident site. But, the following day, Simon gets back to us, saying it’s all too recent; he can’t face revisiting the spot, not yet.

Bad weather

On Monday 11 January, 2016, Simon got in the car and drove out onto the northern link road in Karlskoga. It had been snowing; conditions were slushy.

“Taking a bend, I felt the car lose grip with the road surface and I skidded across into the oncoming traffic lane. A lorry was heading straight for me.”

How it occurred to him he doesn’t know. “Instinct,” he says. “Either I get out of my car or I end up dead.”

His own Renault Clio had started to spin round and round and he remembers thinking, before he threw himself out, “I’m going to be run over by my own car.”

Just a few bruises

The gods were watching over Simon. His own car struck him once, knocking him down into the roadside ditch. The collision between car and lorry was violent. The car was a complete write-off. The lorry driver was unhurt, the lorry only slightly damaged.

An ambulance took Simon to A&E where staff called his survival miraculous; he just had a few bruises and tender spots.

“Not one broken bone,” he says. “Everyone involved – policemen, firemen, medics – they all said it ‘couldn’t possibly’ have gone as well as it actually did.”

He’s back at work again – he’s borrowing his father’s car. However, there are one or two unpleasant reminders of accident.

“I find it very hard sleeping,” Simon admits. “Thoughts well up about what might have happened. I’m very glad I’m still alive.”

Swedish version: here.