Keith Jack had travelled four hours from Stafford to Scotland to spend Christmas with his family. But just minutes from arriving he hit black ice

The star of a pantomime is lucky to have survived a horror head-on smash after driving four hours to spend Christmas with his family.

Keith Jack – who is playing Prince Joseph in Stafford Gatehouse Theatre’s production of Snow White – was minutes away from his dad’s home in Scotland when he skidded on black ice.

He smashed through a fence and into a tree at about 1am on Saturday and said he closed his eyes as he spotted the tree hurtling towards him.

The 33-year-old said he hoped he would still be breathing after the impact, Stoke on Trent Live reports.

He had travelled four hours from Stafford to Scotland to spend Christmas with his family. But things took a sharp turn when he was just minutes from his destination.

The performer said: “I started spinning on black ice. It was dark and cold and crazy. I don’t even know how I survived. My dad can’t understand how I walked away from it and the rest of the family think it’s a miracle too.”

He said: “The whole front end of it caved in. As I was coming to the tree I closed my eyes and thought, I’m going to close my eyes, and I hope I get the chance to open them again.

“The last thing I saw was the tree and then when I opened them again the airbags were all burst, all the lights were flashing and I couldn’t hear anything apart from a buzzing noise in my ears like you see in films after a big explosion. I got up from my seat and walked out the car and there wasn’t a mark on my face.

“Everything in the car was everywhere but I was fine apart from some bruising and stuff where the seatbelt cuts into my sides. If you look at the car and look at me you wouldn’t understand. My dad said someone is looking down on me.”

Keith said he and his family were emotional after the accident, but he has been keen to return to a routine to keep his mind off it. The theatre star was given a lift back to Stafford by his dad after spending some quality time with family.

He said: “I spent Christmas a bit teary and thankful at the same time. I’m now back down south because I wanted to get back to panto here – more from a mental aspect than anything else.

“I’d spent the whole of Christmas morning talking about it and worrying about it and dealing with it and we all just imagined how different it could have been.

“As a prince in the panto I walk around and mentally it’s been really good for me to not just sit down and think about it.”

He added: “I’m still a wee bit sore when I take a breath but the lovely Maureen Nolan met me after my dad gave me a lift down and made sure I was okay.”

Keith found fame when he finished as runner-up in hit reality TV show Any Dream Will Do and later performed the title role in Bill Kenwright’s national touring production of Joseph and His Technicolor Dreamcoat.