A popular dinner lady today told how she was left stranded in hospital for the New Year after she was badly injured in a hit-and-run.
Mary Barrand, 56, said relatives visited her in “shifts” at King's College Hospital after she suffered a broken leg, shoulder and cracked ribs when she was struck by a motorbike in Peckham.
Speaking from her hospital bed, Mrs Barrand told how she was hit by the motorcyclist while walking with her 17-year-old son Ryan in Hanover Park on New Year's Eve.
She told the Standard: “We were crossing the road and were virtually on top of the pedestrian island when this motorbike suddenly appeared.
“I put up my arm as a defensive action then the next thing I know I hit the floor.
“I must have still been talking but I don’t remember a lot of what happened afterwards. I drifted in and out of consciousness and was given strong medication.
“When I came to in the hospital I had already had an operation on my leg. I’d broken two bones in my leg as well as my ribs and my shoulder was shattered.
“I was relieved when I woke up that it wasn’t a head injury. I can cope with everything else.”
Mrs Barrand, who works as a dinner lady at English Martyrs’ Roman Catholic School in Walworth, could remain in hospital for another two weeks before she is able to return home. She is currently unable to leave her bed without use of a hoist.
She said her family visited her at the hospital in "shifts" during the New Year after the accident, which came months after she was diagnosed with cancer.
“Normally we would spend New Year at my mum’s but it kind of went out the window this year," she said.
“The food was taken round to mine and the family took it in shifts to come and see me. They have rallied around me and lifted my spirits.
“The next stage is making sure the environment is right for me at home as I have limited movement.”
Mrs Barrand said relatives told her schoolchildren had held prayers for her in assembly after staff were notified.
Read More
The collision happened four months after the 56-year-old received the all clear for cervical cancer following her diagnosis in March.
She said: “I’m due a slice of good luck now, hopefully I’ll get a nice lottery win."
Scotland Yard said a 21-year-old man was arrested on New Year’s Day on suspicion of failing to stop at a scene of an accident and suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle.
He has been bailed to a date in February.
