Gran saves four children from hit and run horror
She’s left badly injured after shielding family – but crash driver just runs away
A GRANDMOTHER was seriously injured after courageously taking the full impact of a hit- and- run crash to save the lives of her grand-children.
Khalida Hussain was left with broken legs and ribs as well as head injuries and was due to have surgery last night.
The family of 57-year- old Mrs Hussain have praised her selfless actions in the shocking incident during which she was thrown into the air. CCTV footage from the family’s own home shows the horrific moment the car hits Mrs Hussain and her four grandchildren.
Two of the children – a girl and boy both believed to be 11 – also needed hospital treatment and have since been allowed home. The other two were unhurt.
It is believed the grandmother was walking the children back to the family home in Upton Park, East London, when the collision happened. The car was travelling on an empty road but veered into the group and a traffic island. It was then abandoned and the occupants fled on foot. Last night Mrs Hussain’s son Asad Shan, who revealed that his mother has already survived a brain tumour, said her actions had saved the lives of the youngsters.
Mr Shan, a creative director at an independent film company, said: ‘Obviously my mother saved their lives, because she was in front of the car. She took the impact. Otherwise the kids would have gone. That car must have been doing 60 to 70 miles per hour. My mother has got broken ribs, she has got about 12 stitches in her head and both legs are broken. She has got pain throughout the body.’ Mr Shan said it was a miracle that his niece, who hurt her back, and nephew, who has a fractured nose and needed stitches to his face, survived. He said he has not left his mother’s bedside since she was taken to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel by air ambu- lance after the crash on Thursday. ‘I have been literally living in the hospital since the day of the accident,’ he said. ‘Just imagine if that happened to your mum and your kids. There are no words. That is all I can say.
‘Right now our energy is being with our mum and going through this surgery. There is anger. Why would anyone in this world do something like this to innocent kids and an elderly lady?’
Mr Shan said he and the rest of the family were struggling to understand why the pedestrians were hit when they were in a marked- off area of carriageway next to a bollard and the whole road was avail- able to the car driver. He added: ‘I think they are alive because they bounced upon the island. They hit the plastic, and that kind of took the impact.
‘My sister-in-law was at home upstairs and she said she heard fast music and skidding. They were doing 60 to 70mph. If you look at the video, it is just horrific, the way they went ten feet in the air. I hope the police will catch the culprit and I hope they are severely punished.’
Mrs Hussain’s neighbour Mushtaq Hussain, 49, said she has five children and she and her husband, Mujahid, are semi-retired after working together in business. Mushtaq Hussain, an estate agent who is not related to them, added: ‘She is a really lovely lady.’
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said officers were called at about 2.55pm on Thursday. He added: ‘The car involved stopped a short distance away and two male occupants made off on foot. Enquiries are underway to trace them.’
‘Why would anyone do this?’