Hit-and-run taxi victim reveals memory loss ordeal

David Hedge suffered serious head injuries, internal injuries and a fractured shoulder blade after he was dropped off in a taxi outside his home in Field Street, Willenhall, in the early hours of April 20.

Moments later, his fiancee Sarah Lowe discovered the 27-year-old lying in the road unconscious and he was taken to Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

He has now been discharged but is still attending weekly hospital appointments and has yet to make a full recovery.

See also: Help us find hit-run driver, pleads fiancee

Mr Hedge had been drinking in Wolverhampton city centre and had been picked up by a taxi between 1.25am and 1.40am on the Sunday near to the Royal London Pub.

Police said he suffered injuries consistent with being hit and dragged by a vehicle and have appealed for the taxi driver to come forward.

Mr Hedge said: "I was induced into a coma and woke up after five days.

"It has affected my confidence. When I go out on my own I get panicked. I've lost a lot of memories from the day and in other parts of my life. There's certain parts of my life I can't remember. It's distressing.

"On the day I remember asking Sarah for money for the taxi when I got back. The driver took the £10 and said it was going to be more.

"I had left my phone with him but when I asked to get it back he said no. My arm got trapped in the taxi window."

Mr Hedge, who works as a team leader at Cream Financial Solutions in Wolverhampton, was then found lying unconscious in the road by his partner of nine years and police attended the scene.

But the former St Thomas More Catholic School pupil said he was still striving to get his life back on track and urged anyone with information to come forward.

"I'm getting physiotherapy because it shattered my shoulder blade," Mr Hedge said.

"I'm also going for a brain scan to see if the swelling has gone down. I had swelling, bruising and a bleed on the brain. I'm also seeing a psychiatrist.

"I want to go back to work and live a normal life. In a way, it's taken my life.

"If anyone has seen anything I would like them to come forward because there needs to be justice.

"If this had happened to someone 20 years older than me they may not have been so lucky."

Police launched an appeal for information in the aftermath of the collision and examined CCTV in both Wolverhampton and near to where the man was dropped off.

Pc Chris Blount, from the Regional Collision Investigation Unit, said at the time: "It is believed the man had been drinking in Wolverhampton city centre and had been picked up by a private hire taxi.

"He was dropped in Field Street and a short time afterwards and we know he was involved in a collision and suffered injuries consistent with being hit and dragged by a vehicle.

"We are appealing for the taxi driver who picked the man up in the city centre and dropped him in Field Street to come forward as he will hold vital information as to what happened and how the man came to suffer his injuries."

Anyone with information can call police on 101.