Teen cyclist lucky to be alive after 'hit-and-run' on A358 (From Somerset County Gazette)

Teen cyclist lucky to be alive after 'hit-and-run' on A358

11:33am Thursday 14th March 2013 in News By Laura Barton

DANIELLE Sowden has spoken out against careless drivers after she was involved in an alleged hit-and-run incident.

A TEENAGE girl who was knocked off her bike in a collision with a car on the A358 says she could have been killed.

Danielle Sowden had visited her aunt in Kingston St Mary and was on her way home to Cotford St Luke when the alleged hit-and-run incident took place near the Conquest Farm Equestrian Centre at around 5pm last Friday.

Danielle, 17, said: “I was cycling and the chain on my bike got caught, so I tried to get into the lay-by, but I didn’t quite reach it and I remember a car going straight into the back of me.”

Danielle told the County Gazette she landed awkwardly on her head and neck, and blacked out for ten minutes before waking up in a ditch at the side of the road.

She said: “When I woke up I was really panicking. I couldn’t breathe, I was confused, I didn’t know where I was and I couldn’t see anything – my vision was blurry.

“I found my phone and called my mum, who was in Bridgwater at the time, so she called an ambulance and then my neighbour, and she drove out to get me.

“At first she couldn’t find me because I was in a hedge and I couldn’t move my head, but I eventually managed to crawl out so she could see me.”

Danielle was taken to Taunton’s Musgrove Park Hospital and treated for neck injuries. She will have to wear a neck brace while she recovers and has had to take time off from her job.

She said: “It’s very painful, and I’m getting a lot of headaches and migraines, but the doctors said it could have been much worse.

“They told me I could have slipped into a coma.”

“People need to be a bit more careful when they’re driving. Whoever hit me obviously knew they did, but didn’t have the decency to stop.”

Danielle reported the incident to the police – any witnesses should call 101.