Moment household dash alongside busy motorway to catch flight by ‘matter of minutes’
Kaiya Brown and her family were left ‘stressed and panicked’ after a lorry accident on the M6 caused a traffic standstill near Birmingham Airport – but they weren’t going to miss their Lanzarote holiday
Kaiya Brown and her family travelling down the motorway(Image: Jam Press/@kaiyashouse)
A family boarded their flight with mere minutes to spare after being forced to leg it down the motorway to the airport due to being stuck in gridlock.
Armed with suitcases and two restless toddlers, Kaiya Brown and her family walked down a slip road on foot as a desperate last measure. The 33-year-old, from Leicestershire, and her family of four had allowed themselves five hours to complete a 30 minute journey to the airport. Yet after a massive lorry crash which brought the M6 to a complete standstill, the group nearly missed their flight entirely.
“I felt so stressed and panicked,” said Kaiya. “The uber that collected us the second time had no aircon so I was drenched with sweat and covered in mud and brambles from scaling the embankment.
They resorted to desperate measures(Image: Jam Press/@kaiyashouse)
“We were around 20 minutes away from the airport and were at a complete standstill for a while before seeing police, ambulances and recovery trucks going past. We were the last to board and made it by a matter of minutes.”
Kaiya, her husband and their two children aged four and five were travelling on their first ever holiday abroad.
After being collected in the early hours of the morning from their home, the four of them headed down the M6 towards Birmingham airport. A lorry transporting cars had overturned on the carriageway following a smash, causing a complete traffic jam.
The mother took the executive decision for the group to walk down a slip road and up an embankment to reach a clearer road. She explained: “It was a lorry carrying cars which had tipped over.
The family made their way down a slip road on foot as a last resort(Image: Jam Press/@kaiyashouse)
“It crossed both sides of the motorway and they needed a crane in the end so if we hadn’t walked, we would have missed our flight.
“Thankfully we were by a slip lane which had been closed so we were able to scale the embankment and walk up it safely. People got out of their cars and helped us with our children and luggage which was really lovely. Once we reached the top of the slip lane the police helped us cross the road safely and then we ordered another Uber.
“We weren’t sure if we were still going to make our flight though as the traffic everywhere was pandemonium because of the M6 closing.”
‘People got out of their cars and helped us with our children and luggage’(Image: Jam Press/@kaiyashouse)
The chaos unfolded near junction 2 of the M6 on July 2 – with the family en route to Lanzarote. Their first holiday abroad as a family was meant to be memorable – and it certainly was, but for all the wrong reasons.
Kaiya said: “This was a big deal for us. Our children have never seen a plane before so we booked an airport lounge, which is fancy for us, but we wanted to make the most of the moment.
“We wanted the children to see the planes taking off and landing and we also wanted to enjoy some food and drinks together to get the holiday started. We were so late to the airport that we completely missed this in the end.
“Me and my husband had two children within 12 months which was not planned. Our childcare bill came to around £1,300 per month which meant that we have had no disposable income for the last five years.
“With the addition of Covid me and my husband haven’t been abroad for eight years so this holiday was a monumental moment for us as a family.
“It was stressful but we made it in the end and I’m so grateful we did what we did as we would have 100% missed our flight and holiday otherwise.”
