COMMUNITY champion Jacqueline McGrew is living proof of the importance of seatbelts.

Her life was saved by one when a van smashed into her car.

Had she not been belted in, doctors told her she would have been flung through the window and would probably have died.

Now Ms McGrew has backed the Love Your Kids? Belt Them In! campaign, and urged others to learn from her story.

She was the front passenger in a car heading along Whitebirk Drive at the junction of Philips Road, Blackburn, when a van jumped the lights and crashed into their vehicle.

The 62-year-old from Whitebirk escaped with just cracked ribs, despite the severe impact of the crash.

The mum-of-one was 39 at the time of the crash but said she remembered it like it was yesterday. Ms McGrew, who is the chair of Whitebirk and Intack Tennants and Residents’ Association, said: “We had been on the main road from Whitebirk to Brownhill when a van was coming out of Philips Road at the lights.

“The van was coming right at us. I had my seatbelt on and I remember screaming until I couldn’t scream anymore.

“I thought I had died but I had broken my ribs.

“The seatbelt had saved me.

“I was told by doctors that I would have gone through the window and my head would have been chopped off.

“I have a son and he would be left with no one if I had died.

“I believe in seatbelts.

“I know they can cause damage but it’s better than losing your life.”

She said: “It’s simple to get in the car and fasten your seatbelt.

“Then you know you’re safe.

“It doesn’t take a second to do. As soon as you sit in a car belt up.

“When I’m in a car and people ask me to put a seatbelt on I have already done it.

“This is something I am really passionate about.

“Not wearing a seatbelt could ruin your life.

“This campaign is a brilliant idea. ”