Daniel Tupling, 38, had returned from a family trip to Disneyland just hours earlier when he and wife Kate, 39, were woken by what he said “sounded like a bomb” as a vehicle smashed into their Lodge Lane home in Dinnington.
“I would love to say it looks worse than it is, but it is just as bad as it looks,” he told The Star.
See our gallery of photos of the devastation below.
Daniel explained that after a long day of travelling, he fell asleep on the sofa watching TV.
“I must’ve dozed off with the telly - next thing I know, I was woken up with a huge bang.
“The car had literally come through the wall a metre from where I lay.”
He said that he felt incredibly fortunate to have woken up to hear the commotion at all.
“The fire service told me I was so lucky – six inches the other way and I could’ve been dead.”
The impact crushed their dog’s cage and ripped through the main supporting wall of the house.
Miraculously, the family dog survived.
To remove the vehicle, the fire service also had to drag the car back through the garden - in turn destroying the garden and fencing.
But for Daniel, the most chilling thought was that his nine-year-old daughter Florence had been playing with Lego at the very table the car smashed into just hours earlier.
“The truly scary thing is that my little girl had been sitting there before bed,” he said. “The car could’ve gone straight into her.”
Neighbours have rallied round the family in the aftermath, offering support, but Daniel admitted the ordeal has left them devastated.
“This is the first house we’ve owned, my wife and I have worked for many years, gone through plenty of turmoil to afford it. To see it like this has broken us.”
The family are now waiting to hear whether they can stay living in the property.
While the structure has been declared stable for now, the crash left major damage to the supporting wall and the process of claiming through insurance is still unclear.
“There are just so many unknowns at the moment,” Daniel said.
South Yorkshire Police confirmed they were called at 2.06am on Saturday, August 23, to reports of a collision on Lodge Lane.
A spokesperson said: “It is reported that a car collided with a house causing structural damage to a property. No injuries were reported.”
Jamie Jory, 33, of Addison Square, Dinnington, has since been charged with offences including:
- Driving while above the prescribed limit for alcohol
- Driving without due care and attention
- Failing to stop
- Using a motor vehicle on a road without a valid test certificate
He has been bailed to appear before Sheffield Magistrates’ Court on September 23.
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2. The car smashed through the French doors into the house
Dan and Katie Tupling's damaged home after car smashed into kitchen at 2am. | Dan Tupling
3. Dan and Katie Tupling with the remains of the crash in their garden.
Damaged home after car smashed into kitchen at 2am. | S70 Media
4. Destruction in the home after Dinnington crash
Dan and Katie Tupling's damaged home after car smashed into kitchen at 2am. | Dan and Katie Tupling