THE father of one of the Cardiff hit-and-run rampage's youngest victims has described the terrifying moment his family were hit by the van.
Adam Lewis, 23, told how his partner Annie Jones, 22, and and two-year-old daughter Amelia-May were catapulted into the air as the madman aimed his vehicle at the toddler's pushchair.
Annie was undergoing surgery today to put pins and rods in her shattered leg, while little Amelia-May's swollen face is covered in scabs.
Cuddling the tot on his lap, Adam said it was a "normal day" until they were targeted out of the blue while walking from his grandmother's house.
He told Sky News: "All of a sudden we were hit from behind with the van.
"I caught the van in my peripheral vision but it was too late. He just sped up and smashed straight into us.
"I got pushed to the side with the wing mirror and unfortunately my partner and the baby took the brunt of it.
"She (Amelia-May) ended up face down on the pavement, and my partner was there holding onto her leg. It was broken."
Adam Lewis describes how his two-year-old daughter was catapulted from her pram
CCTV footage emerged today showing the young couple pushing the buggy along the pavement.
Seconds later the white Iveco van is seen swerving across four lanes and heading straight for them.
The maniac driver also killed mum-of-three Karina Menzies, 32, and left a total of 13 injured in a three-mile rampage.
Hundreds of mourners left flowers and held a minute's silence today at the spot where Karina died.
Adam, who escaped with only minor injuries, said the attack was "mind-boggling", adding: "Why somebody would want to do that I'll never know."
He went on: "I know there was a fatality and our hearts go out that family.
"We're just so relieved that we're still all OK, you know? It's just overwhelming.
"You don't expect a big white van to come and smack you off the pavement. It was a normal day. We were just walking down the road and all of a sudden, this happened, a van whacked into the back of us.
CCTV shows van swerving across four lanes of traffic to strike couple pushing toddler
"I saw it hit my missus and she let go of the pram. It looked like she buckled. Literally her legs and her head were like an S-shape where the van hit her and she just sort of flew.
"And then she ended up going beneath the van as well.
"She's got a broken fibia and tibula and a hairline fracture to her ankle, and she's got a puncture wound on her left hip.
"She's OK, she's bearing up. She's being very brave for the baby. Very, very brave. She's doing well."
Adam joked his daughter looked like she'd been through "twelve rounds with Mike Tyson", but "she's being incredibly brave as well - I'm just hoping there's going to be no psychological effects for her.
"She just keep saying to me, 'oh I fell over, I've got a big baddie', which makes me feel terrible to be honest that she thinks it's her fault."
Meanwhile more than 200 of Karina's friends and family staged a vigil at the spot where she was mown down outside Ely Fire Station.
Tears ... friends and family pay tribute to tragic Karina Menzies
Wales News Service
Her brother Craig, 34, led the tributes to the mother-of-three who was killed as she walked her two youngest children home from school on Friday.
He said: ?Karina was such a beautiful person so full of life. Everyone loved her - you can see that by the overwhelming turnout. It shows the love people had for her.
?She was a wonderful mother to her three girls and all our thoughts are with my nieces now.
Vigil ... more than 200 people gathered at Ely Fire Station where Karina was killed
Wales News Service
?Those gorgeous three girls have lost their mum. But she died saving her children - I?ve been told that she threw them out of the way.
?She gave herself like any loving mum would do."
Prayer services are due to be held across the city this evening for all the victims of the horror. Two of the injured are still fighting for life.
Colorado shootings dark knight rises Aurora shooting James Eagan Holmes jeremy lin Sage Stallone Mermaid Body Found
No comments:
Post a Comment