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It was the biggest day of her life and everything was poised for perfection. The £2,000 dress fitted Sophie Clarke just so, her father was sitting next to her in a beautiful horse-drawn carriage, and she was heading for the church to marry the man of her dreams.
Then the horse bolted – and instead of looking forward to the wedding that was three years in the planning, the 29-year-old began to fear she would never see her husband again.
The jolt had thrown the driver and his assistant from the carriage. With no one at the reins, the terrified animal hit a car and Miss Clarke was pitched over the edge, where she hung dangerously close to a wheel.
As the carriage careered down the busy road, towards a railway crossing, Miss Clarke's father Bob, 56, managed to pull her back into the carriage.
But the horse galloped on, and fearing they would both be killed as it veered into the path of a lorry, he pushed his daughter from the carriage, speeding at up to 35mph, and threw himself out after her. He may have saved her life, but Miss Clarke hit the ground so hard she was concussed. Her big day was over – and it had not even started.
Paramedics arrived and the bride's fiance, Karl Woods, was summoned from St Leonard's Church, in Bretforton, Worcestershire.
The £15,000 ceremony and reception for which she had spent years preparing, was cancelled. Reliving the experience, she said: 'Something spooked the horse. We thought we were going to die because we were heading for the railway crossing.
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