Bedfordshire mum injured in 'hit and run' while broken down

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Wendy Cook in hospitalImage source, David Cook
Image caption,

Wendy Cook had broken down on the A6 near Clophill when a vehicle went into the back of the car she was driving which subsequently went into her

A woman has spoken of the "terrifying" moment her broken down car was crashed into in a hit-and-run that broke her ankles.

Wendy Cook, 66, was driving home from Bedford to Luton when she had to stop on the A6 near Clophill on 22 June.

While on the verge on the phone to the recovery firm, another vehicle hit her car, which subsequently struck her.

She ended up under the car wheel. She said police were still searching for the other vehicle.

Her family has put out an appeal for witnesses on social media.

The BBC has approached Bedfordshire Police for comment.

Image source, David Cook
Image caption,

Ms Cook had been driving home from Bedford to Luton when the crash happened

Ms Cook said it was her son's car that she was driving home when it broke down on Deadman's Hill.

She said she called the breakdown firm, which told her to get out of the car and wait somewhere safe. She had been waiting an hour when the hit-and-run happened at 18:15 BST.

"I was talking to them [the recovery firm] on the phone and I must've been looking the other way because I didn't see anything coming," she said.

"The next thing I know, I was being dragged along by the car, so the car had hit me, dragged me around on the grass and I ended up with both of my feet under the driver's tyre.

"It was terrifying."

Image source, David Cook
Image caption,

Ms Cook ended up under the car wheel on the driver's side

Ms Cook said her phone had "flown" out of her hand and she was "screaming for help".

"My work phone had fallen out of my bag and I was scrabbling trying to find that while all the time screaming for help," she said.

"I managed to find it, phone 999 and, as I did that, a man pulled up, saw my predicament and said there was a fire engine just coming."

She said crews from the fire service released her and she was taken to Bedford Hospital where X-rays revealed both of her ankles were broken and her tibial plateau (part of the tibia bone between the knee and and ankle) was fractured.

Ms Cook said she felt grateful she was "still here to tell the story" but said she did not know how she would feel about getting in a car again.

Her son David Cook said it was "incredible" that police had still not identified the other vehicle and urged anyone who witnessed the collision to contact the force.

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