Astonishing moment Britain’s bravest mother pushes pram carrying her baby girl to safety before she’s mown down by maniac drunk driver in shocking hit-and-run

• EXCLUSIVE: Footage shows Becky Sharp pushing baby Lorena out of harm’s way

This is the moment Britain’s bravest mother pushes her child’s pram to safety – before she was mown down by a speeding drink driver and left for dead with a serious brain injury. 

Becky Sharp, 31, was crossing the road with daughter Lorena in her stroller in the Redhill area of Bournemouth when scaffolder Dale Clark, 38, bounded along the road at 40mph in a 30mph zone in his Toyota RAV4 following a vodka binge.

The footage, exclusively published by MailOnline, shows the car travelling along the outside lane on Redhill Avenue on April 11 this year shortly before 9am before swerving across to the inside lane at the last second as Ms Sharp crosses the road.

She pushes the pram out of the way, and Lorena escaped without injury despite her pram overturning as it trundled to the edge of the road; but her mum spent eight weeks in a coma and has been in a rehabilitation unit in Poole since the crash. 

Clark drove off after the incident, leaving Mrs Sharp for dead – and with life-altering injuries including brain trauma and multiple fractures that have left her needing to use a wheelchair and needing long-term medical care.

Becky Sharp (circled, in front of Dale Clark’s car) was crossing the road when Clark dived across the road in his Toyota RAV4 at the last minute

Becky Sharp (centre) pictured holding her baby girl before the horrific hit-and-run. She is sitting in a park with her daughters Matilda (left) Lorena and Fionnula (right) 

Lorena (centre) posing for a photo with her sisters Matilda (left) Lorena and Finnula (right). She miraculously escaped injury

Dale Clark was jailed for three-and-a-half years at Bournemouth Crown Court 

Mrs Sharp (pictured today at Bournemouth Crown Court) was crossing the road to take her 11-month-old daughter to a play park when Dale Clark crashed into her

The video footage, taken from a local business further down Redhill Avenue, shows Clark speeding along the outside lane of the one-way street ahead of jumping lanes at the last second to avoid a right turn.

Prior to Clark switching over, Mrs Sharp had started to cross the road with Lorena – and as she realises the drink-addled driver has made a last-minute dart across the street her reflexes kick in.

READ MORE: Hero mother who pushed her daughter’s pram to safety vows ‘I’d do it again to save my children’ 

Clark had been drinking that day and had ‘girls and drugs on his mind’ according to prosecutors as he wove his way across the road, using his phone as a sat nav in his lap after contacting drug dealers earlier in the day. 

As Clark he realises what he’s done, the brake lights on his Toyota light up and the whole car pitches forward – but by then, it’s too late.

Lorena’s buggy can be seen rolling to the side of the road between a pair of trees as Ms Sharp is thrown through the air ‘like a ragdoll’ from the force of the collision.

She was thrown the length of a cricket field by the impact, landing on her face with blood around her nose, struggling to breathe.

But barely a second passes before monstrous Clark then sets off again at speed, leaving Mrs Sharp for dead.

However, a witness memorised his numberplate and before long police had tracked him down; he had googled ‘hit and run Bournemouth’ in the hours after the crash.

Clark gave a reading of 46mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath – over the limit – and told police he had drunk vodka and taken £210 of cocaine in the two days before the incident after falling out with his grandparents, who he lived with.

During his police interview he admitted he had ‘wiped her out’, saying he ‘went into panic mode and s*** myself and ran away’.

Last week Clark, of New Milton, Hampshire, was jailed for three and a half years at Bournemouth Crown Court after admitting causing serious injury by dangerous driving, failing to stop at an accident and drink driving.

Addressing the scaffolder, Judge William Mousley said: ‘You quite clearly were not looking where you were going and you hit Rebecca Sharp. 

‘Very luckily and miraculously she had pushed the pushchair ahead of her so you did not collide with her youngest child.

‘The overall picture is that her life has been changed seriously forever. The impact on her and her family has been monumental.’

Mrs Sharp was in court to see him sentenced and had hoped he might express some remorse for ‘turning my life upside down’. But Clark failed to even look at her as she sat in a wheelchair with her husband Dan by her side.

She said: ‘I wanted to go to court because I was angry, and I wanted to see him. He did not make any eye contact and did not express any remorse.

‘He said nothing directly to me. I know he has written a letter to the court, and his mother came up to us at the end and said sorry. 

‘His grandmother mouthed “sorry”. That was kind. But I am upset that he hasn’t said sorry to me directly.’

The scene on Redhill Avenue, Bournemouth, Dorset, after Mrs Sharp was hit by Dale Clark

The pram was also thrown into the air, but the baby was not harmed and taken to hospital as a precaution

This is the junction that Dale Clark swerved across at the last second as Becky Sharp crossed the road, sending her flying the length of a cricket pitch

Clark, a scaffolder from New Milton, Hampshire, was sentenced to three years and eight months’ imprisonment

In an exclusive interview from her hospital room, Mrs Sharp said she was pleased the judge had praised her as a hero – and said she would do it all again to protect her loved ones.

She said: ‘That was nice of him to recognise that I pushed my daughter out of the way, but I would do it all over again if it was to save one of my children.

‘I would do it multiple times if needs be. I am just grateful that Lorena was not hurt and that my other two children were not with me. I am so grateful that Lorena was not injured.’

However, the incident – which she cannot remember – saw her miss a number of Lorena’s milestone moments, from her first teeth and first birthday to her first steps.

Remarkably, while she says she is angry at Clark for the devastating effect of his recklessness she does not have any strong feelings of bitterness towards him – even admitting that over time could even forgive him.

She added: ‘I can’t say I forgive him now, but over time maybe. I don’t feel any real bitterness as he has gone to prison.

‘He has been given a prison sentence which I think is just. The maximum was five years, so it was fair. His life has changed. I’m not sure I can ask for more.’

Source: Read Full Article