A hero mother who pushed her baby’s pram out of the way of a hit and run driver has completed her first Park Run since the horrific incident after making a miraculous recovery.
Becky Sharp, 37, spent two months in a coma with serious brain injuries and multiple fractures after she was struck by the vehicle.
The mother-of-three had been a regular runner before being mown down by the speeding Toyota RAV 4 on April 11, 2023.
She had to learn to walk all over again and took her first steps after five months in hospital, before returning home last December.
Now she has completed her first Parkrun since the incident supported by her daughter Matilda, seven, and two friends.
Husband Dan and their other daughters Finnula, nine, and two-year-old Lorena, whose life Becky saved, were there to cheer them on.
Dan described his wife as a ‘force of nature’ as she completed the 5km run at Upton Country Park in Poole, Dorset, in 44mins 50secs.
Becky, from Bournemouth, said: ‘For me this was more than just ticking a box, it was a really big achievement and it was great to have my daughter and two friends run it with me as well.
‘I’ve been training, running three times a week to build up to it as I didn’t think I could go straight into a 5k.
‘It went really well, it was a case of mind over matter. I set out with the attitude of ‘I’m going to achieve this’ so I wasn’t going to stop unless I fell and hurt myself.
‘Upton Country Park is more like a trail run, there’s lots of bumps and uneven ground so I’m really happy I managed that as well as the distance.
‘My recovery is going really well, I’m not sure I will ever feel completely back to normal but I can do a lot of things I used to do before my accident now.
‘When I moved home I was still on crutches so I was quite far away from running. It’s taken a lot of time, practice and dedication to get to this point.
‘It was an accident and could have happened to anybody, but I am really careful about crossing roads now.’
Dale Clark, a 38-year-old scaffolder from New Milton, was jailed for three years and eight months in October last year after admitting causing serious injury by dangerous driving, failing to stop at an accident and drink driving.
He had been drinking vodka and taking cocaine over the two days before the accident.
Becky had taken her two older daughters to school and was heading home with then 11-month-old Lorena when the collision occurred.
Clark was doing in excess of 40mph in the 30mph zone and suddenly veered lanes just as Becky was pushing her daughter’s pram across the road.
The quick-thinking mum managed to push the pram out of harm’s way but she was hit and thrown ‘the length of a cricket pitch’ before panicked Clark fled the scene leaving her for dead.
Becky had a blood transfusion at the scene and was airlifted to hospital but arrived in a vegetative state with a severe brain injury and fractures to her skull, ribs, pelvis and left leg.
She appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court in a wheelchair for the sentencing when the court heard she had ongoing cognitive issues, suffered from fatigue and had physical complications from her leg fracture.
But she was able to return home in December last year and a year after the incident she was able to walk her girls to school again.
Dan, a manager at the RNLI, ran the London Marathon in April, along with his brother-in-law Rob Higgin and friend Ross MacLeod, to raise funds for Brain Research UK, who helped Becky with her recovery.
They have raised over £45,000.