Mother-of-three thought she was ‘going to die’ after her car ended up in a ditch near Halvergate

Domiciliary carer Emma Hondo, 36, was travelling between clients on Branch Road, near Halvergate, yesterday at around 8.25am.

The mother-of-three said as she approached the black and white chevrons warning of a sharp turn she tried to slow down but was not able to.

'I went to put my foot on my brake and nothing happened,' she said. 'I crashed through the barrier and my car nose dived into the marsh.'

In shock, Ms Hondo had not realised her car was slowly filling with water.

'Luckily there was a man who heard and saw what had happened, I was in a state of shock and he asked me is there was water coming into the car, I hadn't realised until he asked, I panicked because there was water rushing in.

'I literally thought I was going to die, the nearest house is a five minute walk and no one would have heard me scream.'

The man, whose name was Gary, encouraged Ms Hondo to climb out of the car through the boot.

'The water was freezing,' she said. 'I would not have been able to climb out without Gary.'

Once Ms Hondo was out, Gary managed to flag down a car coming around the corner and they went to a nearby care home to call an ambulance.

'I dread to think what would have happened, there's no way I would have got out without Gary,' she added.

Ms Hondo, who lives in Lingwood, was taken to James Paget University Hospital, in Gorleston, where she was treated for internal bruising.

She said she felt very lucky to not have been more hurt and is now resting at home, having been released from hospital yesterday afternoon.

But she wanted to warn people about the dangers of black ice, and that there are not always warnings put out.

'There were no warning signs, the first thing I said to Gary was that my brakes had not worked and he said there was black ice. It's deadly.

'If there was a sign and I would have known I would have just swerved around it, but without a sign I didn't know.'