AtlantaBraves.com

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- As Braves hitting coach Terry Pendleton neared the entrance to Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex early Thursday morning, he was overcome with great concern.

In front of him sat an overturned sport utility vehicle -- the same one that he'd helped Chino Cadahia acquire just two weeks ago.

Approximately one minute earlier, while making a left-hand turn, Cadahia's car was clipped on the backside by another vehicle that had run a red light. As his SUV flipped and skidded across the concrete, the new Braves bench coach found himself fortunate to be strapped in by his seat belt.

"I was conscious the whole way," Cadahia said. "I saw myself get hit from behind. I felt myself flip and I felt myself skid. My first thought was, 'Am I going to be able to undo the seat belt?'"

Cadahia was able to free himself from the belt and begin to make his way toward the back seat. As he did, Pendleton was able to open an undamaged door and free the 49-year-old bench coach.

"A number of things could have happened in that one," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "He's lucky he had his seat belt on. I would say it saved him."

By the time Cox and other team personnel arrived on the scene shortly after 6 a.m. ET, paramedics had found Cadahia to be in good health. He was sent to a nearby hospital, where it was determined that he'd simply suffered a few scrapes and bruises.

"I'm sore and I'm happy to be alive," said Cadahia, who was back at the stadium by 9 a.m., in time to prepare for Thursday's Grapefruit League season opener against the Dodgers.

Cadahia, who had served in the Braves' Minor League system for the 11 years preceding this year's promotion, was shaken, but still able to display his always upbeat personality. He joked that his next rental car should be a Hummer.