I got hit by a drunk driver

Sandy, 22, was hit by a drunk driver whilst walking home one night. She tells The Mix what happened and how it affected her.

True Stories

"I hope he feels guilty."

I spent the day with a friend in Brighton and I was walking back from the station at about 11pm. I was only about five or 10 minutes from my house when a drunk driver rode up the pavement in his car and hit me.

“I think I need an ambulance.”

It’s very vague, all I remember is hearing the sound of the vehicle and feeling dizzy. I put my hand up to my head and realised I was bleeding. Fortunately I was able to phone the emergency services and say “I was just hit by a car. I think I need an ambulance.” By the time they asked me where I was I had no idea at all. I was feeling really confused and I was saying “I don’t know, I don’t know, just help me, please.”

The driver didn’t stop, he just drove off. He did come back however and pretended to be one of the people who had stopped to help. He asked one of the police officers if it was OK to go, but the policeman noticed his car was damaged and smelled alcohol on his breath, so he said “No, you’re coming with us” and arrested him.

I was rushed to A&E. I had deep lacerations to my forehead which needed to be sewn up. They put the stitches in, but then my head just swelled up because my inner arteries had been cut. They had to unstitch and restitch me three separate times. My left eye was so swollen and bruised that I couldn’t see out of it. My right eye was nearly as bad and I could only see a little bit out of that side. I didn’t want to look at myself in the mirror for a while because I was scared of what I was going to see. When I did, I just burst into tears because it looked horrible.

A reminder every day

I’ve just recently had some surgery to my scar. It was really blue and the hospital said something had got into it and basically tattooed it. So they cut the scar out and then sewed it back together. I’ve lost a bit of movement in my right eyebrow, so if I try to raise my eyebrows only half of it moves. My friends don’t notice any more, but to me it really stands out. It’s a reminder. A reminder every day of what happened.

I suffered from a knee injury, on my left knee. I lost tone and some of my muscle. It’s really painful. I get a clicky knee, because the joints still aren’t fitting together properly. I used to do ballroom dancing and on the day of the accident I’d been to collect a dancing medal because I’d just done a competition. But I haven’t danced since.

I still get a bit nervous walking on pavements, especially if a car goes quite fast past me. The sound just reminds me and I get a kind of flashback: I expect the car to hit me because it brings back the feelings of that night.

Three times over the limit

The driver was three times over the limit. That’s just ridiculous, especially as he was that much older too. He wasn’t a young driver. I thought he should have known better. I feel like asking him “Why? Why did you do it?” There’s no reason why anyone should drink and drive. I hope he feels guilty. I hope that he’s learned his lesson and that he’ll tell people what happened and he won’t let someone else make the same mistake.

People think “Oh, it won’t happen to me.” You might only have had a couple of pints, but it’s not worth the guilt. It’s not worth the guilt of hurting someone or, even worse, killing someone. I’ll remember what happened to me for the rest of my life. I’m going to feel the upset that he’s caused.

Photo of girl by road by Shutterstock