Mum knocked over by hit-and-run driver and trapped under car saved unborn baby by clawing way to safety

A pregnant woman who was mown down by a hit-and-run driver and trapped under the car saved her unborn baby - by clawing herself to safety by her fingernails.

Aaliyah Lunn was with friends when she was run over by a silver Volvo which deliberately ploughed into a crowd of pub goers.

The 23-year-old was pinned under the car with the wheels spinning inches from her head while the weight of the front axle pressed down on her six-month baby bump.

Her son Shay was born just weeks later, but she told of how she thought she had lost her baby during the terrifying incident.

Driver jailed for more than five years

Incredibly, despite suffering horrific injuries to her foot, Aaliyah saved her unborn baby by wriggling under the car.

Driver Jack Richardson, 25, had smashed into the crowd in a targeted attack after shooting a love rival with a BB gun.

The shocking crash happened as revellers gathered to watch England’s Euros clash with Scotland on TV at the Gigmill pub in Stourbridge, West Midlands, on 18 June last year.

Richardson fled the scene but handed himself in two days later and admitted a string of violent offences.

Aaliyah was left bed bound but despite her injuries she gave birth to a baby boy just five weeks after the horror crash.

Last week she bravely attended Wolverhampton Crown Court on crutches and watched as Richardson was jailed for five years and three months.

Speaking after the case, Aaliyah, of Stourbridge, said when the incident happened she had been with friends, saying:“We settled down, there was kids everywhere. At the time England were playing Scotland on TV so it was busy but everyone was having a great time.

“Suddenly I saw Jack who I know through friends of friends.

‘All I could see were the car tyres above me’

Speaking of how events unfolded, she said: “He pulled out a gun – the sound of this gun sounded like an actual gun but it was a BB gun.

“He shot a man I know around three times in the leg. Everyone, including the kids at the pub, were running around screaming.

“Jack left the pub and I went outside to go home but then this car reversed at high speed towards me.

“I tried to run up the stairs to get safe but I was too late the car hit me and just went over the top of me.

“At first I didn’t feel any pain – I must have been going in and out of consciousness.

“When I came to all I could see were the car tyres above me still spinning.

“All I could remember was saying to myself ‘I am going to die and ‘what about my baby’.

“I had no other option to wriggle myself further under the car to get free.

“Both of my legs were totally numb and my foot was hanging off. I had to use my fingernails to drag myself from underneath the car.

“The car could have come down on me at any moment and I was screaming and shouting.

“When I was finally out from under the car I just lay on the ground feeling my stomach but I couldn’t feel my baby moving.

“I thought I had lost my baby and had lost my foot. I was drifting in out of consciousness.

“I was just screaming ‘my baby, my baby, it is not moving, somebody please help me.’

“Then there were armed police all around me. My foot was in pieces – I had a seven-inch gap on my foot and it was hanging off.”

Shay has breathing problems and tilted neck

Aaliyah was rushed to Russell Hall Hospital in Dudley and underwent emergency surgery to save her baby.

Luckily, the impact of the crash did not do lasting damage and five weeks later she gave birth to 7lbs 3oz Shay Bustin.

Aaliyah, who also has a five-year-old daughter Sienna Mai, added: “I was put in the emergency trauma unit while my foot was being strapped up.

“I had snapped every single nerve and tendon in my foot. It will never get back to normal. The main tendon that connects your toe to your knee cap was snapped in half.

“The baby at this point was stable.

“After the surgery on my foot, I was bed bound for six weeks and had to have carers four times a day.”

Shay, who is now eight months old, now has a tilted neck and breathing problems as a result of the trauma suffered by his mum following the crash.

Aaliyah added: “Because I was bed bound, and in so much pain, the baby had stopped growing and I could not have him naturally because my foot was still in a cast. I had to have a caesarean.

“Where he was positioned in my womb, his one muscle on his neck is shorter than the other. His neck and head are tilted to the left.

“He is undergoing physiotherapy to try and straighten up his neck and still has difficulties breathing.

“There are a lot of ongoing problems. He is constantly poorly. He may have to be transferred to Birmingham’s Children Hospital to help straighten his neck.

“As for my foot, I still have to use crutches and there is not much movement in my foot. My tendons are still tight.”

‘My son suffered because of one man and his actions’

Richardson, of Stourbridge, flew into a jealous rage after seeing his ex-partner’s new boyfriend in the pub.

He admitted two counts of grievous bodily harm, two counts of actual bodily harm, possession of an imitation firearm with intent, possession of cannabis, driving without insurance.

Aaliyah added: “Whether he was sentenced to 100 years, nothing is going to make me feel any better.

“The damage is done. I am going to have to live with that damage for the rest of my life.

“I hate Jack for what he has done. My son suffered for the first few weeks of his life all because of one man and his actions.

“I have been left with total damage in my foot – you could stab a knife through my foot and I would not feel it.

“I am glad he is behind bars. It is what he deserves.”

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