Out of disaster, hope is born
As if being pregnant isn't enough to fill your day up, an expectant mother also found herself involved in a car crash. Suddenly, she realised her birth plans had gone completely out of the window.
The women had to be rushed to hospital after hit and run "coward's caused an accident, which left her with severe bleeding, risked the life of her unborn child and induced a premature birth.
Victoria Siddall was taken to hospital after the terrifying experience, which left her with an internal haemorrhage and bruising to her head.
The new mum gave birth to her son, Harrison, the same evening by caesarean after doctors performed an emergency operation.
Victoria said: "I'm very angry about this because of the way my son was born. I will never get that back. He was born into the world in a car crash and that makes me very, very upset."
The mum-of-two was travelling on the Mancunian Way in Manchester when her car was hit from behind by the other motorists.
Victoria is now appealing for witnesses to come forward to catch the drivers of the car that made off, branding them "cowards. Somebody just drove off and left me there and I think they are cowards", she stated.
It is thought that the occupants in the car were a male and female who after the road accident, then changed seats and sped off, despite knowing their victim was heavily pregnant.
The crash happened in April, when Victoria was 38 weeks pregnant. She was travelling in her Renault Clio with her mum, who suffered severe whiplash injury and may make a whiplash claim.
Witness help
Victoria, who lives with partner Paul Boon and other son Sebastian, two, said: "We are very glad that Harrison is healthy and we know things could have been so much different. We just want to jog people's memories to see if they remember anything so that we can catch the people that did this."
The young family have now been left without a car, Victoria said: "Our insurance company won't pay for a courtesy car because there is no other insurance details to claim on.
As a result, they are unable to take their other son Sebastian out for his birthday: "It means we can't even take our son out, and he is disabled, so it would really mean a lot to him."
Police Constable Mel Sharples, from the Road Policing Unit, commented: "It is completely unacceptable for anyone to drive off from the scene of a motor collision.
"In this case a passenger in the Clio was a heavily pregnant woman, making the collision and potential consequences even more serious. I would ask anyone who witnessed the collision to call me. I would also like to appeal the driver of the other car to hand themselves in as soon as possible."
In similar news, recent Swedish research has shown that female drivers are three times as likely to suffer a whiplash injury, in comparison to male drivers, if their car were to be hit from behind.
Updated on 13/05/2009