OXFORD – “This was a miracle,” declared Colleen Page as she watched the associate pastor of her church and his wife climb out of their battered 2002 Ford Taurus after it was broadsided Friday afternoon on Route 26.

Police said Richard Parsons, 81, associate pastor of the Grace Fellowship Church in Oxford, and his wife, Inez, were bruised but not seriously hurt when their car pulled out of Skeetfield Road shortly before 2 p.m. and was struck by a 1999 Chevrolet Blazer driven by George Stickney Sr., 51, of Harrison.

“He pulled out in front of Stickney who collided with them,” said investigating officer Alan Coffin. The force of the crash sent the Blazer into an embankment on the north side of Route 26, snapping off the back passenger wheel into what was left of the front seat.

Stickney, who was trapped in his seat belt of the crushed upside down SUV, could only shake his head in amazement after being pulled out by rescue workers.

“If I survived this I can survive anything,” he said.

Police said it appears Stickney’s SUV, which was heading south on Route 26, hit in such a way that it was picked up and thrown over.

“I didn’t know I was upside down,” Stickney told his son George Jr., who raced to the scene to help his father.

Page, owner of A Fine Choice gift shop on Route 26 at the intersection, said she heard a loud crash.

“I started praying and called 911,” she said after bringing Inez Parsons into the shop to calm her as police and firefighters worked at the scene.

Both cars were towed from the scene. No citations were issued.