An elderly Wellington woman suffered “horrific” injuries, including four fractures to her neck, after she was hit by a car while out on her nightly walk on Monday.
As Nain Singh, 79, was rushed to hospital the only thing she was worried about was the driver who struck her – also an elderly woman.
“In the ambulance, she just kept saying, ‘please let the old lady go’,” her daughter Manjit Singh told the Herald.
“That’s the kind of woman my mum is, she is so kind and gentle.”
Nain was taking her nightly walk in Karori about 6pm and was halfway across Beauchamp St when she was hit by a car.
“Mum had a knee replacement in October, so she has only been mobile for about eight weeks. She was really excited about using her new knee and getting out walking,” said Manjit.
“She was crossing Beauchamp St when she was hit… she apparently bounced off the bonnet and landed near the sidewalk.”
A number of people rushed to help Nain. Someone called Manjit and her husband and said the older woman had fallen.
They ran to the scene from their nearby home.
“We ran out and saw a few people gathered and Mum lying on the street. That’s when we found out she had been hit by the car,” Manjit said.
“She was holding her neck and not screaming, but she was grimacing and in a lot of pain. She wanted to lie down but a lovely lady called Ruth was supporting her from behind so she did not move.
“My husband took over from Ruth… then a man called Justin came out and he said he had seen it all and explained it to us.”
Police and paramedics arrived soon after, and Nain was lifted into the ambulance.
“That’s when I knew her injuries were much more severe. She was screaming,” said Manjit.
At the hospital, it was confirmed Nain had four fractures to three vertebrae in her neck, a fractured hip and broken ribs.
“Had Ruth not held Mum’s neck still… she would have been in a wheelchair, or even dead,” said Manjit.
“It was frightening.”
Nain is still in ICU and in a lot of pain. She is awake and talking some of the time but heavy pain medication means sometimes she is not lucid and at those times she is “very, very frightened”.
Manjit said Nain kept forgetting she had been in an accident and then when she remembered she became upset.
“That’s normal though, between her being almost 80 and the horrific injuries… the nights are the worst,” she said.
“She is so scared… and then I have my 87-year-old dad who also got a huge fright seeing his wife like this.
“In a moment, our lives were altered forever.”
Manjit said the ambulance driver Andy was “fantastic”.
She also wanted to thank the “extraordinary kindness and quick thinking of Ruth and Justin”.
She said the pair gave Nain “the best possible chance in those critical early moments”.
“Their actions not only protected her from further injury but quite possibly saved her life,” she said.
“We are deeply, deeply grateful.”
Manjit wanted to thank the pair personally and has reached out to the Karori community via Facebook to find them.
She also wanted to thank others at the scene, including those who called for help, rushed out with blankets and offered words of comfort.
“Please know how much your presence meant,” Manjit wrote on Facebook.
“In such a frightening and vulnerable moment, the compassion shown by strangers has stayed with us and truly lifted our hearts.”
The family were also thinking of the driver.
Manjit said the woman was “very shaken”.
Anna Leask is a senior journalist who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 19 years with a particular focus on family and gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual violence, homicides, mental health and youth crime. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz
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