I'M COUNTING MY BLESSINGS

Former Miss SA Cindy Nell-Roberts has renewed appreciation for her family after a near-death experience

-  JODY-LYNN TAYLOR

FAMILY is everything to her, her role as mother her most important job in the world.

Ensuring she’s there for her kids every day is her No 1 priority and watching them grow and develop their unique personalities is one of her greatest joys. And Cindy Nell-Roberts had a stark reminder that her loved ones are everything to her when the unthinkable happened recently.

The former Miss South Africa- turned businesswoman was driving her black Range Rover down Kloof Nek Road in Cape Town – a notoriously steep stretch that descends from Table Mountain to the city – when she was struck by an out-of-control truck.

The vehicle, carrying boxes of frozen fish, careened wildly down the road, hitting several vehicles before crashing into the wall of a block of flats.

Cindy was one of several people injured – and it didn’t take long for news that she was involved in the incident to make headlines. “Ex-Miss SA in hospital as massive truck plunges down busy road”, one read.

When the truck hit her, her first thought was, “This is how I die,” Cindy tells us.

Thoughts of not being around to watch her children become adults raced through her mind. “I thought there’s no way anyone could survive something that hard and loud,” she says.

“The truck started dragging my car and I thought it would roll but it didn’t. I managed to get out of the passenger door and ran into the road.

“I must have had angels protecting me that day because I was the first to be hit and the guy who was hit after me was hurt far worse.”