A mum left paralysed when a teen driver using his phone at the wheel smashed into her has described the agony of no longer being able to hug her son – or even tell him ‘I love you’.
Catherine Davies’ life was devastated ‘in a split second’ after the horrific collision caused by 19-year-old George Taylor on the A47 in Norfolk in January 2023.
Doctors were not even sure she would survive after suffering a catastrophic brain injury and irreparable damage to her spine.
The former fitness instructor, who had ‘always been an energetic and sociable person’, now cannot even breathe on her own and relies on a team of carers for the most basic tasks.
Speaking via an ‘eye-gaze machine’ similar to that used by Stephen Hawking, she called Taylor’s two-year sentence ‘insulting’.
‘He took my whole life away and left me in a living nightmare,’ she told the Daily Mail.
‘I understand he may only have to serve half the sentence, so will be free in a year’s time to get on with his life, whereas I have been imprisoned for life.’
Taylor, who had held his licence for less than 12 weeks at the time of the collision, was using his phone throughout his journey to college on January 18 last year.
He recorded five videos showing him driving a Volkswagen Golf at speed and overtaking other vehicles while using his knees on his steering wheel. He also made two calls and sent text messages.
At around 11am he failed to see Catherine’s Skoda Fabia waiting to turn right in front of him on the A47 at East Tuddenham and crashed into the back of her.
Catherine went into cardiac arrest at the scene and was given CPR by a passing paramedic before being flown to Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital for life-saving surgery to stabilise her neck.
Her family was warned there was only a 50/50 chance Catherine would survive the procedure.
Catherine described feeling as happy as she ever had done before the crash.
She had worked in the fashion industry before moving into cruises and later qualifying as a fitness instructor.
Her injuries have robbed her of the ability to run her fitness business and have left her facing the prospect of missing out on hobbies like spa days with friends and runs on the beach.
‘There is very little pleasure in my life now,’ she said.
She said confronting the nature and consequences of her injuries was ‘absolutely terrifying’ and ‘all-consuming’.
Catherine ‘always wanted to be a mum and got great joy from it’ and it’s the ‘tactile side of being a mum’ like holding him close and touching his face that she really misses.
‘This destroys me,’ she said.
Catherine bravely spoke out in the hope of warning people of the devastating impact dangerous driving can have.
Taylor pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Catherine said: ‘His moments of stupidity, driving while using a mobile phone, have changed my life and my family’s lives for ever.’
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