A CAMPERVAN driver was inches from death after a piece of metal smashed through his windscreen and left his arm “dangling”.
Chris Benn, 54, was driving along the M42 in his van with his wife Rachel in the passenger seat when he was hit by the missile and left screaming in agony.
Now the fridge and air conditioning engineer may never get full use of his arm after he required major surgery to survive.
The pair were driving home to Leeds from holiday in Devon when the kingpin lock flew through the windshield.
Wife Rachel told Birmingham Live: “He saw it at the very last minute, and moved towards me to his left, which then put his shoulder up and it hit that instead of his head.
“It went through his head rest. If it had hit him in the face, that would have been game over.”
Chris’ arm was left “dangling” after the lock hit him and he suffered internal bleeding and needed blood transfusions and surgery to survive.
The nightmare happened between junctions nine and ten at around 2.30pm on Friday afternoon, June 21.
Rachel said: “I was reading a Kindle so I didn’t see what happened, I heard an almighty bang and when I turned around there was a hole in the windscreen and Chris said: ‘My arm’s gone’.
“I leant forward to make sure he still had an arm, and it was dangling. He pulled the wheel and got us on the hard shoulder. Suddenly when the adrenaline wore off, he was screaming in agony.”
Rachel said she thinks if it had hit Chris at full force it would have ripped his arm clean off.
While they were waiting for emergency services Rachel went to get painkillers and found the lock in the back of the car.
She said it was so heavy that it took her two hands to pick up and that it was covered in oil.
Rachel said there is a strand of muscle that can’t be fixed by a surgeon as it is too close to an artery, that issue may mean Chris can never lift his arm above his shoulder.
She said: “If this guy [lorry driver] has reached his destination, he might be sat at home driving himself insane thinking he’s killed someone.
“It was awful, but it could have been worse. It’s going to affect our lives for a long, long time but I don’t want someone else’s life affected as well; worrying himself to death thinking he’s killed someone.”
A Warwickshire Police spokesperson said: “We’re investigating an incident where an object went through a campervan window causing serious injury to the shoulder of the driver.
“The driver – a man in his 50s – went to hospital with his injuries. The incident was reported to police at 2.50pm on 21 June.
“Any witnesses or anyone with information can go to Tell us something you’ve seen or heard | Warwickshire Police or call 101 quoting incident 206 of 21 June 2024.”
A trailer should be fitted with a kingpin or drawbar lock when it has been left unattended.
They are used to stop the theft of trailers and RVs by placing the lock on the ball of the trailer used to hitch it to your vehicle.
With the lock on, any potential thieves won’t be able to connect their motor to the trailer and drive off with it.
There are no rules on how to store a kingpin lock, but they do need to be stored internally in your vehicle so they do not fly off and hit a motor behind you.
