1 week Ago
Amy Bilby has been left furious after her daughter, Demi-Lea Shoebridge, was hit by a white Fiat 500 on Lampits Hill, Corringham, while walking to college. The car struck the 16-year-old’s leg as she approached the pavement before speeding off from the scene, the mum claims. According to Amy, CCTV of the incident shows the driver speeding towards the crossing before slamming on their breaks, hitting Demi-Lea and then driving off.
Demi-Lea, who suffers from autism, had only just built up the confidence to travel to college alone but now Amy fears this will be a major setback in her progression. The incident on Wednesday has been reported to Essex Police. Amy said: “She was around three-quarters of the way on the crossing, and a car just drove straight into her, and drove off.
“My daughter being autistic doesn’t always feel pain, so she got up, and then as she was on her own, got on the bus. But within minutes her ankle was so bad, and I got a call from her saying ‘mum, I have been hit by a car, it really hurts, can you come get me’. “I am freaking out as she can’t communicate properly, so that is all I knew at that point, before I rushed to get her.
I then managed to get CCTV footage and watch what happened.” Amy took her daughter to A&E, where thankfully, her ankle was not broken but was severely bruised. She added: “The trauma is worse than the damage for my daughter because of her autism.
“She has low confidence and self-esteem, and college was a fresh start. She had never done a journey on her own like this until a couple of weeks ago, where we worked really hard to get to this point. “This has now set us back.
How can anyone hit someone and drive off? My daughter is traumatised.” Amy is now looking into whether traffic lights can be installed at the crossing, after being contacted by a number of other residents on social media about several incidents at the crossing. She said: “It is a busy crossing, with no cameras.
Traffic lights would be the best option for everyone to make it safe. It shouldn’t need to get to the level of someone being killed, before something is done.” Essex Police has been contacted for comment.
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