Woman cut free after Willenhall crash on 23rd birthday
[gallery] A woman had to be cut free from her car on her 23rd birthday during a weekend of crash chaos on the region's roads.
There was a series of smashes in and around Wolverhampton over the weekend that closed off some of the area's busiest routes, including the Stafford Road and Wergs Road.
One of the crashes involved a Ford Fiesta which was shunted between two cars at the junction of Lichfield Road and Coppice Farm Way in New Invention.
Driver Hayley Cockayne, who was celebrating her 23rd birthday, had to be cut free from the vehicle following fears she had suffered neck and spinal injuries.
She escaped with bruising to her back and legs after the crash, which happened at 1.30pm on Saturday – but did get a birthday card from hospital staff.
Miss Cockayne, who lives in Ashmore Park and is a receptionist at Showell Park Health and Walk In Centre, said: "It wasn't the best way to mark my 23rd birthday – I can only hope the year improves from here."
Miss Cockayne had been driving to Bloxwich at the time and added: "I'd like to thank all the emergency services, they were all fantastic, it was also lovely to get the card."
Firefighter James White, from Bloxwich Fire Station, attended the incident and said: "We extricated one passenger by taking the side out of the car – we didn't have to cut the roof off – and took her to hospital. We were trying to keep her talking and she mentioned it was her 23rd birthday – poor girl."
Police closed the road following the accident and had reopened it within the hour.
