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Granddad’s lucky escape after tornado lifts up caravan

David Sinclair with his storm-ravaged caravan

by Tom Lowenstein

A granddad in Lincolnshire admits he is lucky to be alive after being inside a caravan when it was picked up and thrown around by a vicious tornado that tore through Long Sutton.

David Sinclair revealed he felt “like a tennis ball in a tumble dryer” when the storm hit his caravan, picking it up and flipping it through the air numerous times before coming to a stop inside the Buffalo paddock of a neighbouring wildlife park.

“I was just sitting in my caravan when I heard a sudden downpour of rain,” the 49-year-old security guard said.

“Then all of a sudden the wind started whipping around the caravan and all off a sudden the caravan lifted into the air.”

Despite the caravan’s violent acrobatics, Mr Sinclair escaped with just bruising and a cut to the head, though his injuries could have been much worse.

He was taken to nearby Pilgrim Hospital in Boston, Lincolnshire, for a precaution because a fridge landed on him during the ordeal, but his unlucky caravan appears to have borne the brunt of the damage and is now a complete write-off.