Warwickshire woman paralysed in road crash makes safety plea

A woman left paralysed after a road accident two years ago is marking a remembrance day for crash victims by urging drivers to be extra careful.

Sheila Vale, from Studley, Warwickshire, was walking her dog in October 2019 when she was hit by a car.

"The person who hit me took his eyes off the road for eight seconds, which isn't that long, and he changed my life forever," she said.

That year, 34 people died in the county as a result of road accidents.

"You never get into a vehicle thinking 'I want to go and run someone over', but it only takes a split second or a few seconds where you take your eyes off the road," she said.

"As drivers, we've all done it. We've all seen something in the field, or at the side of the road, or a beautiful rainbow that's just taken our eyes off the road and we've lost concentration."

She is sharing her story on World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims in the hope it might help prevent others from being injured or killed in the future.

"Life has changed immensely," she said. "I had a lot taken from me... I had to learn to count. I had to learn to feed myself again, because my right arm, pretty much everything got broken.

"The only part of me that wasn't broken in the accident was my left shoulder, my left elbow and my left hand."

Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Seccombe, said: "The ripple effects of losing someone in a collision are far reaching and affect not only the immediate family but friends, work colleagues and the wider community."

"We want people to stop and reflect on their own use of the roads and how we can all contribute to making them safer by being better road users."

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