Today, his mum and dad called quick-thinking Stuart Wilson a hero for his actions, after a terrifying ordeal in which the car rolled over and over with windows smashing, and airbags inflating.

Shocked, but still cool-headed, front seat passenger Stuart feared the worst when the car finally came to a rest, because he had seen his dad thrown into the windscreen, and he had been left slumped semi-conscious behind the steering wheel.

Luckily, Stuart was unhurt in the crash, at Crowland, near Peterborough, but his father, Duncan (35), was pinned beside him in the front, and his sisters, Olivia (7) and Heather (5), were crying in fear and trapped in the back by the buckled doors.

Fearing the car might catch fire, Stuart desperately tried to rouse his father, then twisting round in his seat he managed to open a rear door to get his sisters out.

Remarkably, Stuart then helped Heather, who was dazed and dizzy, part of the way up the ditch before his father came-to and managed to free Olivia.

Once they were all safely out, Stuart then returned to the wrecked car for a mobile phone to call an ambulance, and he also rang his mother at their home in Fen Lane, Holbeach, near Spalding, to tell her they were safe.

The drama happened on Sunday night, when Mr Wilson took evasive action to avoid an oncoming car on the wrong side of the road in Falls Drove, near Crowland.

Today, Stuart told what happened next: "I was really scared when the car rolled on to its roof and over and over. It then drove forward into the ditch when the airbags went off. I was in the front passenger seat and saw my dad hit the front window and the glass in his side window shattered. I was shouting 'dad, dad' and shaking him, as I could tell he was in shock because he was just sitting there.

"As dad's door was all smashed in, I opened the door behind me to help Heather out. She was dizzy so I helped her up the hill a bit before dad came to help carry her."

Olivia was unhurt, but Heather had bitten her tongue in the impact, and Duncan suffered back spasms and a broken rib.

Mum Kelly, dashed to Peterborough District Hospital to find her family all being treated. Today she said: "I was sick with worry and just so relieved when I found out they were safe. I am so proud of Stuart. He is such a caring lad and his first thoughts were for his little sisters."

Mr Wilson said: "I remember slamming on the brakes and frantically grappling with the wheel after I swerved to avoid the car on our side of the road, but there were gravel chippings on the road and it just skidded. It was over in literally seconds, but it seemed a lifetime. I must have gone into shock, as the next thing I remember is Stuart shaking me and shouting my name."

Stuart, a pupil at William Stukely Church of England School in Holbeach, even remembered to take the house keys off the car key ring as the wreckage was about to be towed away.