Victims of drink-drive hit-and-run will take on sponsored walk tonight in Rugby

Kady Middleton and Louis Bronstein were walking along the road from their home in Woolscott, near Rugby, at around 9pm on January 26 when a pick-up truck ploughed into them.

The driver, 32-year-old Alistair Clutton, of Onley Park, had drank two and a half pints at the Shoulder of Mutton pub in Grandborough before getting behind the wheel.

Kady, 21, and Louis, 25, who were wearing reflective clothing, were hit head-on and flung into a ditch. Clutton drove away from the scene but decided to turn his Isuzu Rodeo 4x4 around and return to the incident. He then drove away from the injured couple for a second time.

Fortunately a passing doctor stopped to help the couple and called an ambulance.

Kady suffered lacerations to her liver and pancreas, an arterial bleed, a broken leg, ten rib fractures and a tear to the tube of her oesophagus, and she spent two weeks in hospital.

Louis had broken ribs and vertebrae, a crushed artery and knee and ligament damage, and he spent a month in hospital.

Clutton was jailed for two years and eight months and banned from driving for four years.

Kady said: “I remember walking towards the car and it coming round the corner with its beams on.

“Louis put his hands up to shield from the bright lights and then it hit us. I woke up in the ditch but Louis was still knocked out.

“It took them a while to find Louis, it was only when a second car’s lights shone on him that they knew he was there, as he was further into the ditch and I was at the side of the road.”

The couple have set up a sponsored walk to raise money for the Trauma Ward at University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire, and the Cedar at St Cross, where the pair were looked after following the crash.

Kady said: “We want to raise money for the hospital wards that saved our lives.

“Louis had an emergency operation on his leg as soon as we were taken to hospital. He had dislocated all four ligaments in his knee and they put metal work in to hold it all together. He’s had a further two operations since and now he’s able to cycle and compete again, which is something he has always loved.

“I’ve been rushed back into hospital three times as my pancreas has split and I may need an operation.”

Kady, who is studying journalism at Northampton University, could not eat or drink for two weeks after the crash as she had torn a tube in her oesophagus. A week after the incident, doctors found a burst artery and Kady underwent a three-hour operation while awake.

Now the couple, who have been together for three and a half years, want to prove they are capable of taking on the walk and will be re-visiting the site of the crash during the route.

Kady said: “I think it will be emotionally challenging as we will be walking past the exact spot where it happened.

“We have had amazing support from family and friends and we’ve raised £800 so far.”

Speaking of the man who put the couple in hospital for weeks, Kady said: “When the police first told me his age and the fact that he drove that truck I knew it was him.

“Louis had grown up in the same village as him and they used to play poker together.

“I suppose I have to forgive him in order to move forward with my life. I’m glad he’s been locked up. It’s a relief that he’s gone away.”

The sponsored walk talks place tonight (January 26) in Woolscott.

Go to crowdfunding.justgiving.com/kady-middleton-1 to find out more and to donate.