Woman nearly killed in hit-and-run says life was ‘ruined’ – as worst areas for uninsured drivers are revealed
A woman who was nearly killed in a hit-and-run says her life was “ruined” and she wants the driver to get their “just deserts” – as police launch a national crackdown on dangerous uninsured motorists.
Sharon Cochrane spent four months in hospital after suffering a broken leg and arm, eight broken ribs, two broken collarbones and a fractured neck, as well as a bleed on the brain and a collapsed lung.
The 64-year-old Sainsbury’s employee was walking to work in East Ham in London when a car, being driven on the wrong side of the road, crashed into her on the pavement.
Mrs Cochrane told Sky News she was sent “flying into the road” during the incident in July 2018, while the suspected uninsured driver failed to stop and has never been caught.
Mrs Cochrane suffered a broken leg and arm, eight broken ribs and two broken collarbones. Pic: Sharon Cochrane
It comes as UK police forces enforce a week-long operation called Op Drive Insured, which aims to increase the number of uninsured vehicles seized across the country.
Extra attention will be given to the worst-affected parts of the UK, with Birmingham having the highest levels of uninsured driving, according to Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB).
The not-for-profit organisation, which compensates victims of collisions involving hit-and-run drivers and uninsured vehicles, said it received more than 26,000 claims in 2021.
Hunt for hit-and-run driver
Mrs Cochrane said she had to learn to walk again and was bedridden at home for 11 months after being discharged from hospital.
She can no longer drive, she continues to suffer swelling on her legs, and she is unable to bend one of her arms.
Sharon Cochrane says her life is still affected by the hit-and-run more than four years later
“Four months in hospital, 11 months to walk again – your life is ruined,” Mrs Cochrane told Sky News.
“I can’t drive any more because of the pins I’ve got everywhere. All the swelling I’ve still got. There’s so much I can’t do.
“Without catching anyone, you don’t seem to have any closure… you can’t see justice served.
“If they had caught him, and he had been drunk or had been on drugs, he would have got his comeuppance.
“He might still have, who knows? Something might have happened – his car might have blown up, his house might have caught fire.
“We wish all we can on him and hope he gets his just deserts.”
‘My life was ruined’
Mrs Cochrane said she has no memory of being hit by the car and woke up in intensive care at the Royal Free Hospital in London, surrounded by her family.
Police appealed for information after the hit-and-run but no one has been caught. Pic: Sharon Cochrane
“Doctors said to me, they’ve had people with a lot less injuries not make it,” she added.
“Normally I’m a strong person but when I saw what I couldn’t do for 11 months – and in my head thinking, this is going to be forever, not walking, stuck in a bed… the thought of it was making me sick.”
In a message to the driver, Mrs Cochrane said: “My life, my husband’s life, everything was ruined because of this.
“We can all mistakes – god, I’ve made hundreds in my life – but I personally would have at least stopped and called an ambulance.”
Worst areas for uninsured drivers revealed
Ranked by postal areas, Birmingham has the five locations with the highest levels of uninsured driving, based on MIB claims, followed by Purfleet in Essex, Smethwick in the West Midlands and the Manchester areas of Cheetham Hill, Crumpsall and Strangeways.
Motorcyclist Graham Hills said he was left in “excruciating” pain and expected to die after he was hit by an uninsured car while he was riding at 60mph.
Graham Hills spent 102 days in hospital after being hit by an uninsured car. Pic: Graham Hills
The 64-year-old spent 102 days in hospital after needing emergency operations to repair a punctured lung, cut spleen, open pelvis, torn rectum, four major ligaments in his knee, a broken ankle and several broken ribs.
The collision happened on the A262 in Kent in July 2018 after an elderly driver of an uninsured car suddenly turned into the opposite lane, causing Mr Hills to hit the vehicle head-on.
“I had a momentary flash in my mind – that’s it, I was instantly convinced I was going to die,” he told Sky News.
“I remember being on my back some way beyond the car, having hit it and flown over the top of it and just being very surprised I was still alive and struggling to breathe, with very severe pelvic pain.
“You probably couldn’t get much more pain and still be alive.”
Mr Hills said he ‘expected to die’ when he was struck by the vehicle
Careless driving prosecution
Mr Hills was flown by air ambulance to King’s College Hospital in London, where he had two spells in intensive care after contracting gangrene and sepsis.
He said the driver of the uninsured vehicle was prosecuted for careless driving and driving without insurance and received eight points on his licence and was fined £400.
“That doesn’t feel quite enough,” Mr Hills added.
He said the MIB helped him secure compensation of about £230,000 following the crash.
Mr Hills needed around 50 further hospital visits after being discharged and wore a knee brace for 10 months as he had to learn to walk again.
He can now drive again and said doctors are “amazed” at his recovery.
Mr Hills said doctors have been ‘amazed’ at his recovery
“With an open book pelvic fracture, most people die at the scene,” he said. “If they get to hospital alive, most people die within a day.
“They view me as almost a bit of a miracle really because I’m pretty normal in a lot of ways.
“If you were to look at me… you wouldn’t know I had a near-death crash.”
‘Uninsured drivers cause higher rate of collisions’
Motorists have been urged to make sure their insurance is valid to avoid being caught up in Op Drive Insured.
Paul Farley, law enforcement manager at MIB, said: “Put simply, uninsured drivers are dangerous. They cause a much higher rate of collisions, and they’re often linked to wider road crime, including hit-and-run crashes.
“It’s sadly become an all-too-common experience to hear on the news that yet another person’s life has been cut short after being hit by an illegal motorist.
“We’re working day and night with our police partners to put an end to this.
“We hope Op Drive Insured sends a clear message that no one is above the law and those who choose to drive without insurance will not get away with it.”
Specialist search teams, police dogs and divers have been dispatched to find two sisters who vanished in Aberdeen three days ago.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.
The siblings were captured crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.
Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Police Scotland has launched a major search and said it is carrying out “extensive inquires” in an effort to find the women.
Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Local officers, led by specialist search advisors, are being assisted by resources including police dogs and our marine unit.”
Aberdeenshire Drone Services told Sky News it has offered to help in the search and is waiting to hear back from Police Scotland.
CCTV of the sisters. Pic: Police Scotland
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The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.
Police said the Torry side of Victoria Bridge where the sisters were last seen contains many commercial and industrial units, with searches taking place in the vicinity.
The force urged businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Tuesday in case it captured anything of significance.
Drivers with relevant dashcam footage are also urged to come forward.
CI Bruce added: “We are continuing to speak to people who know Eliza and Henrietta and we urge anyone who has seen them or who has any information regarding their whereabouts to please contact 101.”
Glasgow has been a city crying out for solutions to a devastating drugs epidemic that is ravaging people hooked on deadly narcotics.
We have spent time with vulnerable addicts in recent months and witnessed first-hand the dirty, dangerous street corners and back alleys where they would inject their £10 heroin hit, not knowing – or, in many cases, not caring – whether that would be the moment they die.
“Dying would be better than this life,” one man told me.
It was a grim insight into the daily reality of life in the capital of Europe’s drug death crisis.
Scotland has a stubborn addiction to substances spanning generations. Politicians of all persuasions have failed to properly get a grip of the emergency.
But there is a new concept in town.
From Monday, a taxpayer-funded unit is allowing addicts to bring their own heroin and cocaine and inject it while NHS medical teams supervise.
A dirty needle thrown less than 100 metres from the new injection centre
It may be a UK-first but it is a regular feature in some other major European cities that have claimed high success rates in saving lives.
Glasgow has looked on with envy at these other models.
One supermarket car park less than a hundred metres from this new facility is a perfect illustration of the problem. An area littered with dirty needles and paraphernalia. A minefield where one wrong step risks contracting a nasty disease.
Drugs paraphernalia in a supermarket car park in Glasgow, near the new facility
It is estimated hundreds of users inject heroin in public places in Glasgow every week. HIV has been rife.
The new building, which will be open from 9am until 9pm 365 days a year, includes bays where clean needles are provided as part of a persuasive tactic to lure addicts indoors in a controlled environment.
There is a welcome area where people will check in before being invited into one of eight bays. The room is clinical, covered in mirrors, with a row of small medical bins.
Clean needles are provided to lure addicts to inject in a controlled environment
There are eight bays users can inject in
We were shown the aftercare area where users will relax after their hit in the company of housing and social workers.
The idea is controversial and not cheap – £2.3m has been ring-fenced every year.
The aftercare area
Read more: ‘Dying would be better than my £1,000 a month heroin addiction’
Authorities in the city first floated a ‘safer drug consumption room’ in 2016. It failed to get off the ground as the UK Home Office under the Conservatives said they would not allow people to break the law to feed habits.
The usual wrangle between Edinburgh and London continued for years with Downing Street suggesting Scotland could, if it wanted, use its discretion to allow these injecting rooms to go ahead.
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The stalemate ended when Scotland’s most senior prosecutor issued a landmark decision that it would not be in the public interest to arrest those using such a facility.
One expert has told me this new concept is unlikely to lead to an overall reduction in deaths across Scotland. Another described it as an expensive vanity project. Supporters clearly disagree.
The question is what does success look like?
The big test will be if there is a spike in crime around the building and how it will work alongside law enforcement given drug dealers know exactly where to find their clients now.
It is not disputed this is a radical approach – and other cities across Britain will be watching closely.
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