A GRANDMOTHER was dragged down a hill by her runaway van while trying to save her grandson inside.
Elaine Kent, 58, scrambled to reach the handbrake of the Volkswagen Transporter as it careered backwards down Hendra Road in Truro on Monday at approximately 4pm.
But it is thought her legs became trapped under the van and it carried on down the hill picking up speed.
The van, with grandson Otis inside, smashed through park railings and went down a steep slope before coming to rest on the grass of Hendra Park.
The force of the impact is thought to have smashed the rear window of the van but Otis, 7, miraculously escaped unscathed.
Victoria Killingbeck, Otis's mother and Mrs Kent's daughter, said her mother had come to pick them up and parked on Hendra Road. Mrs Killingbeck was still in her house on Hendra Road but pieced events together from speaking with Otis.
She said: "As soon as my son got in the van it started rolling. My mum tried to grab the handbrake but could not quite reach it.
"It had already sped up so that she was being dragged along with it. I heard a lot of screaming and came down. The first thing I saw was my mum on the floor screaming."
Otis felt the glass smashing around him but was unhurt.
"Mum was just worrying about him, she was just asking if he was OK," Mrs Killingbeck said. "She said she was in so much pain and I told her not to move."
PCSOs arrived and a passing nurse came to help Mrs Kent. She was treated by paramedics and then taken to Boscawen Park to be airlifted by an RNAS Culdrose search and rescue helicopter to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth.
Graham and Margaret Higgins were driving up Hendra Road. He said: "The van came down backwards with the lady being dragged down the road. She was hanging out of the driver's door. I braked and the van just touched my car. It careered on through the railings. With the force of the impact the lady let go and the van ended up on the grass."
Jordan Smith, 18, was at the adjacent skatepark and said: "I turned around and saw the van rolling down the bank. We heard the woman screaming about her legs."
Police said the woman suffered serious injuries to her legs, and an investigation would be carried out.
Derriford Hospital would not release information regarding the patient's condition.