A mum of four whose ex-husband planted a grenade under her car while she was heavily pregnant has thanked a small charity that helped her family move on from the trauma.

Vicky Fabian, now 38, was in the driver’s seat and her then eight-year-old son was in the back when the blast ripped through the Mazda.

Speaking in the garden of Dandelion Time, West Farleigh, near Maidstone, this week she said: “When I put the car into reverse the grenade detonated. There was obviously a massive bang.

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“I thought a tree had fallen on the car, I just couldn’t work out what had happened.”

The frantic mum screamed at her son to get out of the car, but when she tried to move she realised she was paralysed with no feeling from the waist down – and there were flames licking up around her lap.

VIDEO: Vicky thanks the charity for helping her recover from the ordeal.

Bizarrely, it was the man who had tried to kill Mrs Fabian who came to her rescue, dragging her from the car and putting out the flames.

Vicky, who now lives in Sevenoaks with her new husband and four sons, lost the back of her leg in the explosion outside her home in Vigo, near Meopham, in 2010 and still struggles to walk long distances.

Ex-husband Nicholas Fabian, a former Army bomb disposal expert who had been having an affair but had never been violent towards her, was jailed for life for attempted murder.

Vicky’s eldest son suffered no serious physical injuries, but the trauma had a huge impact upon him psychologically, leaving him with low self-esteem and an inability to trust others, particularly men.

The boy refused to engage with any form of therapy until a teacher at the pupil referral unit, where he was taught after being unable to cope with mainstream school, suggested Dandelion Time.

He spent 14 weeks there and his self-confidence “grew and grew”.

Vicky said: “At first my son was stand-offish, but five minutes after meeting the animals he thought it was the best place ever.

“I remember the first time I saw him smile in a year. He looked like a boy should look.”

The Kent Messenger’s Charity of the Year 2016 works with children and young people traumatised by abuse or neglect or experiencing attachment issues, using natural activities such as woodwork, soap-making and farming as therapy.

Youngsters collect eggs from chickens and harvest plants, while families cook meals and eat lunch together at the start of every session.

Vicky’s second son, who witnessed the explosion from another car when aged just three, also benefited from visiting the charity.

Her positive experience at Dandelion Time inspired her to volunteer there and she has started a diploma in creative and practical therapeutic skills.

She said: “My son was finding it hard to understand the world in general and what happened and I was so busy trying to help him I didn’t realise how stressed I was.

“I remember making a wreath and realising how lovely and quiet it was around me.

“I can still feel that feeling now, realising I had been so stressed.

“A lot of these kids see themselves as failing, but here they can make a wooden stool or a cushion from the sheep’s wool and it’s something they’ve achieved, a constant reminder of something they can do.”

To find out more, visit Dandelion Time's website.