Imogen CalderwoodA BRITISH bride spent her Spanish honeymoon fighting for her life after being struck by a car.
Beautician Joanna Rose, 38, was holidaying in Torrevieja in south-eastern Spain with her new husband Andrew, when the tragic accident left her with life-threatening injuries.
The couple were taking a romantic stroll when Andrew heard ‘a screech of brakes and a loud bang’ and turned to see his new bride thrown onto the car windscreen before landing in a crumpled heap.
“I feel like I have been to hell and back – my honeymoon was completely ruined as I spent the entire two weeks in hospital battling for my life,” said Joanna.
The mother-of-one was rushed to hospital in Torrevieja with a fractured spine, five broken ribs, internal bleeding, cuts and bruising to her face, head and body.
The car hit her with such force that it even dislodged on of the crowns in her mouth.
She was forced to stay in the hospital for two weeks before being transferred back to the UK, to Pinderfields Hospital in West Yorkshire.
She is now beginning married life in a full-body brace, with surgery scheduled to insert stabilising pins into her spine.
“The doctors were concerned that I had a tear in my heart due to the force of the impact and my internal injuries, but thankfully I didn’t need to have heart surgery,” she added.
“I have been struggling to cope with what has happened, the happiest time in my life so quickly turned into the worst and now I am faced with the daunting prospect that I have a long way to go before I will have fully recovered.”
The couple’s four-year-old daughter Poppy was also on holiday with them at the time, but was being looked after by her grandmother at their hotel.
UK-based international personal injury law firm Irwin Mitchell is investigating the accident and helping provide funds for her recovery and rehabilitation.
Philip Banks, who is representing Joanna, said: “We are currently making investigations as to any criminal proceedings which are being conducted in Spain against the driver and to establish insurance details of the driver to help with Joanna’s case.”
