Dennie Butters was about halfway through a short drive to her mum's on Christmas morning when everything went black.
She woke up to find herself trapped in her crumpled Dacia, in excruciating pain, feeling as though her back was "being ripped apart".
The 23-year-old had collided head-on with an Audi driver, who she says was on the wrong side of the road as she travelled round a bend on Nottingham Road, just outside the village of Costock in south Nottinghamshire.
“I remember everything apart from the impact. I remember him being right in front of me and it going black," Ms Butters recalled.
The postwoman, who recently moved to Cotgrave and was on her way to Quorn in Leicestershire, said she was told the crash "should have ended me".
“One of the firemen and someone else told me I probably shouldn’t have survived. If I wasn’t wearing a seatbelt I would’ve had a zero per cent chance," she said.
Several people rushed to her aid following the crash, including a nurse and a police officer who were both off-duty.
Firefighters working to try and free Ms Butters from the wreckage
“I was trapped in a really awful position. The crash had launched me forward, my knees were packed underneath the steering wheel and my pelvis was trapped underneath the edge of my seat," she said.
“It was incredibly painful the whole time. It was awful. It felt like my back was being ripped apart."
Emergency services, including police, firefighters and an air ambulance, soon arrived at the scene.
Firefighters initially cut off the roof but were unable to free Ms Butters, who was eventually released by a hydraulic spreader, which effectively split the car in half.
She suffered "really bad" injuries as a result of the collision, including a broken wrist and torn abdominal muscles, which have left her large intestine protruding, as well as various cuts and bruises.
Ms Butters also underwent surgery on her knee, which had been penetrated by the steering rack, and is unsure when she will be able to leave the Queen's Medical Centre.
Ms Butters, who spent Christmas in hospital with her mum and stepdad, said the ordeal had been "very odd" for the family, particularly as her dad had died in a crash in 2008.
“It was pretty much exactly how my dad went. Having her husband and daughter go like that, I don’t think [my mum] would’ve got through that," she said.
Ms Butters said the other driver involved in the crash suffered minor injuries.