The branch narrowly missed Foster's legs, but the mayor's personal assistant just wanted to get her daughters out of the car to safety.
The freak accident happened while she and her husband, Brian, and their two daughters, Arabella (15) and Gabariélla (13), were travelling down Davidson Road, George. They were on their way home after attending a hockey match in Oudtshoorn.
The incident left her husband astonished. "I did not see any car coming so my first thought was: what is causing this?" Upon surveying the damage he could not believe that his family had emerged relatively unhurt. "Thank God Juanita had her sunglasses on, which protected her eyes against the shattered glass flying through the car."
A Metro paramedic, who witnessed the incident from the George Hospital, jumped into his ambulance and immediately assisted the family. The George Fire Brigade was there to remove the rest of the tree from the road after the Metro Rescue Service workers, with the aid of their bakkie, had winched it onto the island.
The couple is full of praise for Georgians' willingness to help. "Everybody, from Timothy Luff - the professional paramedic first on the scene who treated my daughters for shock - to the parents who stopped to ask if they could help, to the Metro Rescue Service workers, were all amazing," said Juanita.
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Juanita Foster touches the spot on the bonnet of her Opel Astra where the trunk of the tree struck before it catapulted over the roof onto the boot of her car. As the branch shattered the windscreen and glass flew through the car, she worried for her daughters' safety. The trauma only hit her a day later. Her husband, Brian, was driving at the time. Insert: The tree crashed through the windscreen and narrowly missed Juanita's legs. Photos: Pauline Lourens
ARTICLE: PAULINE LOURENS, GEORGE HERALD JOURNALIST
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