TEENAGER Rebecca Fort says she has a telephone kiosk to thank for saving her life.

As 13-year-old Rebecca and her friend were using the light from the phonebox in Chaucer Way, Larkfield, to choose a chocolate bar from a bag of sweets they had just bought, a car mounted the kerb and crashed into the kiosk, demolishing it completely.

Rebecca, of Grebe Court, Larkfield, was thrown into the air and landed, unconscious, on her side. Both she and her friend were showered with glass and debris as the car ploughed into a 6ft brick wall behind them and came to a stop.

The crash left Rebecca with a broken shoulder, severe bruising across her chest and back, numerous cuts and bruises and needing more than 20 stitches to her head and arm.

Rebecca’s mother, Debbie Fort, said she almost broke down when a friend called her at work to say her daughter, a pupil at St Simon Stock School, Maidstone, had been hit by a car.

She said: “As soon as you hear those words you automatically think the worst – it is every parent’s nightmare.

"When I saw the ambulance and the state of the pathway I panicked. From what was left of that phonebox you would think there would be no chance of survival. Someone must have been watching over her that day.”

Rebecca’s grandfather Bernard Fort, from Wateringbury, said: “It is bad enough that Rebecca was hit. I don’t want to imagine what would have happened if the phonebox hadn’t been there. If it was a mother and baby or smaller child it could have been so much worse.”

Mrs Fort believes two members of staff from the nearby Tesco store went to Rebecca’s aid and is keen to thank them.

She is also appealing for anyone who saw the incident, which happened between 4pm and 5pm on Friday, November 24, to contact the police.