Crash victim, 86, was determined to walk again, court hears

The woman had been fit, healthy and independent, before Benjamin Watson, 39, crashed into her as she was using the pedestrian crossing in Scarcroft Road where it meets Bishopthorpe Road, York Crown Court heard.

Her injuries were so bad, she spent months in Leeds General Hospital and then more months in York Hospital.

Today, three years later, she is able to move around the house where she has lived for 60 years unaided and can walk outside, with a stick or a walker. 

Her determination to overcome her injuries earned her Judge Simon Hickey’s praise, who called her an “obviously feisty 86-year-old woman”.

“When I was run over, it changed my life forever,” she said in a personal statement.

“I must have spent a year in hospital. The surgeons said I would not walk again.

“If someone says I cannot do it, I am determined to do it. 

“It took me quite a while but I can now walk independently in the house.”

She said her real recovery began after she left hospital. She had lost a lot of weight, but, with the help of different medical professionals including physiotherapists, set about learning how to walk again.

She had major modifications made to her house including chair lifts and now is able to walk outside the house, with a stick or walker.

She has even managed to return to the junction where her life changed forever, though she said it took her a long time to find the courage to do so.

Benjamin Watson, of Grosvenor Terrace, Clifton, pleaded guilty to causing her serious injury by careless driving and was given a seven-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months. He was also banned from driving for 18 months.

York Crown Court heard that the woman had suffered 51 broken bones, including her shoulder blade, leg and ribs, partially collapsed lungs, a bleed on the brain and continues to have constant headaches, and other lasting effects.

Before the crash, she regularly did the shopping for three friends, riding on her bicycle and would walk her dogs.