Mum's Suffered Horrific Injuries After Leaping In Front Of Drink-Driver's Car To Save Two Year-Old Son

Mum's Suffered Horrific Injuries After Leaping In Front Of Drink-Driver's Car To Save Two Year-Old Son

Newsteam

A mum who jumped in front of a drunken motorist's car to save her toddler's life may never walk unaided again.

Yazmin Henderson, 40, took the full force of the impact as the car hurtled towards her two year-old son Leo.

But although Leo escaped with a few scratches and bruises, mum Yazmin's leg was broken in four places and her ankle dislocated.

She now requires metal plates and screws in her feet and she has been told she might never walk unaided again.

But the driver, Mark Richards, from North Kelsey, Lincolnshire, was only jailed for 18 months and will be freed in less than a year.

Richards, 34, was nearly FOUR times over the legal drink drive limit when he lost control of his Subaru Impreza and hit Yazmin.

Lincoln Crown Court heard that Leo was so traumatised by what happened he will no longer walk past the area where his mum was hurt.

Whenever he sees a car approaching, he shouts: "Mum, that car will get us."

Judge Michael Heath said the offences were serious and he would take "no mercy" on anyone who drinks and then drives dangerously.

Yazmin was going for a walk in North Kelsey with Leo when Richards' car mounted the kerb and sped towards them before crashing into a wall.

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So concerned was she that you were going to hit her little boy that she threw him out of the way," said the judge.

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"Had he been hit then the likelihood seems to me that he would have been killed or seriously injured."

The prosecutor, Andrew Scott described how Yazmin thought to herself, "Oh my God he's going to kill us", before throwing her son out of the way.

He said Mrs Henderson was side swept by the car and thrown to the ground. As well as her injuries, both mother and son suffered cuts, bruising and "significant psychological injuries".

Richards had been drinking the night before the incident and on the day had drunk four cans of lager. But he felt he was okay to drive and but believed he may have blacked out, the court heard.

Yazmin said: "I hope he learns something from this. If you want to have a good time and drink, you have to be responsible."

Richards was also disqualified from driving for three years. He will have to retake his test and his driving licence was endorsed.

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