Firefighters thought man was dead after he was crushed in wreckage of mangled van for TWO HOURS after M56 crash

A dad has told of his horror after being trapped in the wreckage of his van for two hours. Michael Radford, 39, 'woke up crushed' in his vehicle which was sandwiched between two heavy goods vehicles following the major crash on the M56 near junction 10 in April.

The father of three said firefighters 'thought he was dead' after the horrific smash, which happened while he queued in standstill traffic after missing his exit on his drive home. Ever since, he has questioned how he made it out alive.

Michael was rescued from the wreckage, captured in dramatic photos, before being airlifted to hospital. He suffered a fractured spine, several broken ribs and an eye injury.

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Speaking to the Manchester Evening News , the water mains engineer said: "I don't remember much about the initial impact, I completely blacked out. Then, I regained consciousness and I woke up crushed. I couldn't see what was going on and I was out of it.

"It took the fire brigade around two hours to cut me out and I was airlifted to hospital. I had become wedged against my steering wheel and the front of the van was completely crushed to the size of a Ford KA. I was stuck.

"When the fire crews turned up, they told me they had thought I was dead with how badly damaged my van was. Even I look back at pictures now and ask myself how I am still alive."

Michael has been off work ever since the crash, on April 11, and says he is scared at the thought of getting behind a wheel again following the 'traumatic' ordeal. Emergency services were called to the incident on the eastbound carriageway of the M56, beside junction 10, at around 5.30 on April 11. Michael was eventually cut from