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A woman who survived a dramatic car accident in north Wales credits her mobile phone with saving her life after her vehicle plunged down a mountainside. Natalia Sidorska, 32, was driving along Horseshoe Pass—a winding and scenic A road in Denbighshire—late one June evening in 2025 when she lost control. Her car left the road and tumbled down the slope before coming to a halt in a field below. Moments after she escaped, the wreck caught fire.
Mountain rescue teams estimated the car had fallen over 100 meters (approximately 330 feet). During the ordeal, Natalia’s iPhone 16 activated its crash detection feature automatically, alerting emergency services and sending her location to her emergency contacts. She said the hardest part wasn’t the crash itself but what happened afterward. It was her first time driving on Horseshoe Pass, and she admitted she may have been going too fast for the road’s 40 mph limit. “I didn’t realise that there was a very tight bend coming up and when I realised… it was too late for me to do anything,” she explained.
Natalia recalled gripping the steering wheel tightly as the car bounced down the mountainside, airbags deploying with each impact. When the vehicle finally stopped, she found herself trapped underneath the back seat and became aware that the car was on fire. Though injured and unable to move her leg properly, she tried unsuccessfully to open the doors. Believing she would soon die, she prepared herself to fall asleep and succumb to the smoke, but then remembered she had locked the doors before setting off. After unlocking them, she crawled out of the car and rolled away just before the vehicle exploded seconds later. Emergency responders arrived about 20 minutes after the crash.
Natalia expressed gratitude for the iPhone’s crash detection system, especially given how late it was and how far down the mountain she was. The system uses sensors including motion detectors, sound, air pressure changes, and GPS to detect severe collisions like rollovers and impacts from different angles. Upon detecting a crash, it offers the option to call emergency services, but if it receives no response within 20 seconds, it automatically calls to provide assistance and sends alerts with location details to emergency contacts.
Following the accident, Natalia underwent three operations and spent four months hospitalized due to serious injuries, including permanent damage to her ankle and spine. Surgeons had to remove her talus bone after an infection prevented the use of metal implants. “It will be a lifelong disability,” she said. After moving with her 10-year-old son to Liverpool, Natalia spoke highly of her family’s support. “My family has proved that they are my rock. If I didn’t have my family, I don’t know what would happen to us. My son loves me so much, he’s been really looking after me. He’s been so understanding,” she shared.
Now she has been offered housing by Liverpool City Council and hopes to retrain as a Polish interpreter, shifting from her prior career as a property manager. Despite everything she endured, Natalia has returned to driving with an adapted mobility car. “It wasn’t the car that failed. It was me,” she said. “And if you drive, no matter how good you are, always be cautious.”
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
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