A 28-YEAR-OLD man ran for his life when a 20 tonne tree came crashing down around him and destroyed his Borehamwood home on Saturday.

Daniel Raphael was thrown to the floor when a massive rotten tree collapsed outside his two-storey block of flats in Farm Close at 6.30pm.

Despite hundreds of branches raining down on him, he managed to quickly get to his feet and run for cover under the driveway entrance.

Firefighters later told him his swift reactions had most likely saved his life, as they found a huge section of the tree where he had dropped his phone in his escape.

Mr Raphael, who was left battered and bruised all over his body and with a chipped elbow, went to Barnet General Hospital after the incident.

He says he keeps reliving the moment, which he describes as a near death experience.

Mr Raphael said: “I had been watching the football inside my flat, when I realised I had left something in my car.

“As I walked, I heard this crunching and cracking noise coming from the wooded area just near where we park our cars.

“Suddenly I saw this huge tree coming toward me and I ran. Some branches hit my arms and I was knocked to the ground, but luckily I wasn't unconscious.

“For that split second, if I was the type of person who froze, there's no way I would be here now.”

As Mr Raphael reached safety under the driveway entrance, the tree crashed loudly into the building, bringing the entire neighbourhood out of their homes.

Three fire engines from Borehamwood, Garston and Hatfield were called to accident, joined by three police cars and one ambulance.

Firefighters were forced to kick down doors as they had to make sure no one was hurt. Amazingly, and despite severe damage to the building, no residents were injured.

However, the falling tree had sliced through a major section of the Mr Raphael's roof, ruining treasured wedding gifts he and his wife had been given earlier this year.

It also left a gaping hole in the outer-wall of the couple's bedroom, with the surrounding bricks buckled inwards, and debris covering the entire room.

Mr Raphael's wife, Laura, 27, was shopping in Tesco, in Shenley Road, at the time of the accident.

If she had been at home, she could have been seriously hurt as she would have most likely been relaxing in the bedroom, while her husband watched football in the lounge.

The couple said it was amazing that no one was hurt in the incident, and it had also been very lucky that the tree had not caused the explosion of a gas boiler in their neighbour's kitchen – now visible from the street through a vast hole.

The block of flats has been left in ruins, with a large portion of the roof caved in and bricks and timber scattered everywhere.

The damage has been deemed so serious that civil engineers have told eight residents, a mixture of private owners and tenants, that they cannot stay there.

Mr Raphael said he was told the entire building has moved by around 4 inches and could possibly need to be torn down.

When tree surgeons came to remove the tree from the building on Sunday, a crane lifting the massive trunk gave a load reading of just under 20 tonnes.

Mr Raphael said the workman would have been amazing to watch, as they meticulously planned the removal of the tree, if it had not been his home they were removing it from.

The young couple are currently living with relatives in Radlett and are waiting to hear more news from their insurers and management agent.

If the building can be saved, it is thought it could take up to four months to repair.