THE father of accident victim Jason Norris has told of his son's amazing escape from a car smash on Crete which killed his girlfriend, Andrea Moss.

Jack Norris, who flew out to the holiday isle with his wife Dorothy to be with his son in hospital, returned yesterday to the family home in Cliviger.

Mr Norris, of Thanet Lee Close, said: "He is the luckiest person in the world to be alive, but we are devastated for Andrea's family. He keeps on saying to us, 'Why am I here?'"

Jason, 29, and Andrea, 24, lived together in Barden Lane, Burnley, and had been together four years. They had been staying in the Astrid Hotel Apartments in Stavromenos.

The couple had hired a Fiat car so they could tour the island and had been out on Sunday because the weather was bad.

Mr Norris said: "They were on a mountainous road and the rain had washed boulders down over the road. Jason swerved to avoid the rocks and braked but the car just carried straight on and found a gap in the barriers and was on the edge.

"It fell down and hit a rock which is when we think Andrea's seatbelt must have become unfastened and she was thrown out of the car." Mr Norris said the car fell down a 300ft cliff turning end over end - his son described it as being like a rat in a cage. He said: "When the car came to rest Jason got out and climbed half way back to where Andrea was and he tried to resuscitate her but her neck was broken.

"He has stitches to a head wound on his forehead, behind his ear, on the top and back of his head, black eyes and cuts and bruises on his body." Jason was discharged from hospital yesterday and the family arranged another hotel for them to stay in while flights were organised for Jason and his mother.

Mr Norris said: "We don't know how lucky we are in this country to have the NHS. The hospital in Crete was a nightmare and we just wanted to get him out.

"Jack is still is a state of shock and we just want to get him home as soon as possible."

Jason works for Burnley engineering firm Remec and Andrea was a receptionist with Grapevine Software.

Her body was expected to be flown back home today and her family are planning a funeral next week.

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