Woman riding pillion on scooter loses part of leg in crash with Shropshire pensioner's car
A woman pillion rider lost the lower part of her left leg after the machine she was riding was struck by a pensioner's car, a court heard.
The victim was airlifted to hospital following the crash near Chirk and she had to receive a dozen operations.
The car driver Walter Henry Chaplin, 71, admitted careless driving, following the incident on July 31 last year when he appeared at Flintshire Magistrates' Court at Mold.
The court heard that Chaplin, of Burlton Hall in Burlton, near Ellesmere, did a U-turn in a line of almost stationary traffic but had not seen the scooter approach as it overtook.
He was said to be deeply remorseful for what had happened but accepted fully the case against him.
Mr Brian Robinson, prosecuting, said that the defendant was driving a white Volvo XC90 sports utility vehicle while the victim Sarah Bridgid Baker, 52, was the passenger on a Honda Silverwing scooter ridden by her life-long friend Stuart Gary Gretton, an experienced rider of more than 20 years and a fire service emergency response driver.
They were returning home from a day out in Wales.
As Mr Gretton filtered past the line of traffic at a slow speed he recalled a flash of white and then being on his back struggling to breathe.
He realised they had been knocked off the machine and a man approached apologising and saying he had not seen him. Miss Baker saw a large white vehicle starting to pull forward towards her and put her hands up to push the vehicle away as she knew it was going to hit her leg.
But there was nothing she could do and the car hit her left leg about mid-thigh height. She was in constant pain and she remembered spinning around before landing on her back.
Mr Robinson told how Miss Baker had never felt so much pain and was airlifted to hospital in Stoke due to her significant injuries.
She had to have 12 operations. She would never be able to drive a manual car, she only had 70 per cent use of her leg, and could no longer run, she could not Thai box or go to the gym, the court heard.
In her statement, she said she could not wear skirts because she did not want people to see her leg, and she now walked with a limp and used a stick.
She had previously been on motorcycle trips to Europe but could never get on a motorcycle again.
"I feel that on July 31 I lost not just part of my leg but the person I was and the wonderful life I had."
Chaplin was fined £523, must pay £85 costs, a £52 victim surcharge, and have six penalty points.
