Friends ‘lucky to still be here’ after car ploughed into pedestrians outside pub
29 July 2021, 19:56 | Updated: 29 July 2021, 20:03
Two friends who were struck by a car outside a pub in South Wales have said they are lucky to be alive.
Darren George and Poppy Muir were sat outside the Windsor in Pontyclun when the Silver Ford Puma crashed into the pub.
Six people were taken to hospital, including the driver of the vehicle who police say suffered a "medical episode" at the wheel.
Read more: Six injured after car ploughs into pedestrians outside pub in South Wales
No arrests have been made and the investigation is still ongoing.
"The extent of the injuries are very severe," said Mr George, speaking to LBC from his hospital bed.
"I’m so lucky just to even have my leg and even luckier to have my life.
"Quite a lot of people got injured but it could have been so much worse."
He added: "If I hadn’t seen it coming I wouldn’t want to think what the injuries could have been."
Pontyclun crash victims speak to LBC
When the incident happened, Darren was sat with several of his friends having a pint, something they had done countless time before.
Poppy, one of the friends who was sat with Darren, told LBC: "We’re very, very lucky people.
"If you were in that situation, it could have been a lot worse so you’ve got to look at the positives of it.
"I may be out of action for a few months but I’d rather that than be out of action completely."
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A statement from South Wales Police said: "One of the pedestrians has suffered life-changing injuries and the driver of the car is in a critical condition.
"The other four have also been taken to hospital as a precaution, suffering from what are described as minor injuries."
Silver commander, Chief Inspector James Ratti of South Wales Police said on the day of the crash: "Emergency services were called to this critical incident just before 8.30 this evening and were confronted with a scene which involved a number of casualties
"We worked alongside our colleagues in both the Ambulance and Fire Services to deal with the casualties as quickly and efficiently as possible.
"This was a very distressing incident and we are very grateful to the members of the public who came to the aid of the injured people in the moments immediately after the collision."
