A mother dragged on the bonnet of a car at the Liverpool parade has shared the horrifying moment she spotted her six-month-old baby’s pram lying upside down in the road after the pair were hit by the vehicle.
Sheree Aldridge feared she and her son, Teddy, would die after the Ford Galaxy vehicle ploughed into them in Water Street on Monday evening.
The 36-year-old was pushing the pram alongside her partner Dan Eveson when they saw an ambulance making its way down the road, followed by a sudden noise that sounded like a brawl.
“I don’t like fighting and get really anxious, so I turned around and wanted to get the baby out of the way,” she told The Independent from her hospital bed on Wednesday morning.
“Then I remember someone shouting ‘car’ and then I was literally on the bonnet, travelling for what felt like a while before I got thrown off and the car went over my leg.
“I had been pushing the pram and I had no idea where it went, so I looked around while on the floor and could see the pushchair upside down a little bit further up the road.
“I was just screaming that my baby was up there, but when I tried to move, I couldn’t and then everyone rushed over, including Dan, who then went straight to Ted and took him to the ambulance.”
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Teddy and his father were taken to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, where a check-up revealed no injuries to the baby. It later emerged that the impact of the car had sent the pram about 15 feet down the street.
Ms Aldridge was taken into a restaurant used as a temporary help centre, before being moved to Aintree University Hospital. The mother suffered severe bruising to one leg, but hopes to return to her family home in Cannock, Staffordshire, soon.
She said: “I've never really been a religious person, to be honest, but something was looking down at us that day, I’m telling you. It’s a miracle we’re all alive.
“When I landed, I knew I was in pain, but I was more concerned about the baby and [his] dad. I've never had an accident like that before... I didn't know where the pushchair was, but I thought that was it. I thought that was my time.”
A total of 65 people were injured when the vehicle ploughed into a crowd of people during Liverpool’s Premier League victory parade. More than 50, including children, were treated in different hospitals and 11 remained there on Tuesday in a stable condition.
Investigating officers believe the car slipped through the roadblock into Water Street by tailgating an ambulance crew attending to someone suffering a heart attack.
Police were continuing to question a a 53-year-old man from West Derby in Liverpool on Wednesday morning after his arrest on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving and drug-driving.
Speaking on the police investigation, Ms Aldridge said: “I think I just want to know why; because it was so direct towards me.”
But she said the response to the incident illustrated the community spirit in the city, from businesses opening up spaces for the injured to strangers offering lifts and places to stay for those affected.
Ms Aldridge said: “I just want to thank everyone; all the ambulance staff, the restaurant, the public, because you never will get to see these people again. They could have ran, to be honest, they could have got out of the way as quickly as possible because you didn’t know what was coming next, but they chose to stay with injured people.
“It says so much about the spirit of Liverpool.”
