Kentish Express Ashford & District
Head-on collision victim tells of her living nightmare
A woman who suffered serious injuries after the car she was travelling in was struck head-on by a man driving on the wrong side of the M20 at 80mph has spoken about her ordeal.
Phillipa Piper’s life has been changed forever after the incident in April.
After long and painful treatment, her pelvis is now held together by screws and she may never be able to carry a pregnancy full term.
As we reported last week, the man who caused the crash, Krzysztof Stopko, 35, was jailed for 32 months after admitting causing injury by dangerous driving.
Miss Piper, 25, known as Pippa, was on her way to the Ashford Designer Outlet for a spur-of-themoment shopping trip with her boyfriend, Sean Bowman, 27.
But their lives were turned upside down when Stopko’s car hurtled towards them.
She said: “It happened within a split second. My memory is just of the white car in front of us swerving out of the way and his black Seat being within feet of our car coming towards us.
“Sean was driving and he turned right towards the central reservation so the other driver could fit past us.
“Instead he turned into us and flew us into the air, and by then I had been knocked unconscious.
“I didn’t really have any thoughts going through my head – more just a huge feeling of fear.”
After the collision, Mr Bowman was able to climb out of the car but Miss Piper was trapped. She was stuck for a just under an hour.
She has described life since as a “living nightmare”.
She sustained injuries all over her body, including an open elbow fracture to her left arm, a spinal fracture and breaks to both sides of her pelvis and sacrum.
She spent a week in King’s College Hospital and then two further weeks at the William Harvey in Ashford.
She said: “I was then told I was going to be put into a care home in Deal.
“I refused to go, so the hospital set a room up in our house, with a hospital bed and special mattress to prevent bed sores, with all the other equipment.” Our story from last week
Mr Bowman suffered a broken finger, bruised chest, ribs and lungs, and severe permanent pelvic bruising.
Both he and Miss Piper are on statutory sick pay. Mr Bowman hopes to return to work later this year but Miss Piper says it is unknown if she’ll ever be medically fit enough to return to work on board ships with P&O Ferries.
She said: “The crash has affected our lives massively. We are not the same people we used to be.
“My arm now has extensive metal work inside. It was due to be amputated but they managed to save it. My pelvis has two large screws holding it in place.
“The long-term prognosis is not clear. I am able to walk now but I am in great pain.
“Because of my pelvic injuries, we may not be able to carry a pregnancy full term and the likelihood is that I will need walking aids or even a wheelchair and then a C-section.”
The couple planned to start trying for a family in December.
“It’s been a long-term plan but now that’s not possible.
“It really has upset us that we won’t be given the normal options throughout pregnancy but we are still hopeful.”
Miss Piper said: “We don’t feel any sentence would have been enough justice for us as our problems are with us for life now.
“We don’t feel he has any remorse whatsoever towards us or his actions.”
Miss Piper does not drive. Mr Bowman said he was now only able to drive short journeys due to anxiety and avoids driving every day.