‘There was a really loud bang, they were laughing': Mum's horror as firework thrown at her from moving car
The attackers drove away ‘laughing’ after throwing a firework and an egg at a woman jogging alone
A mother who was jogging alone on a major Kidderminster road says she was struck by a firework launched from a moving car.
Charlotte Wilde has spoken of the shock and pain of the horrific incident, which also involved an egg being thrown at her from the same vehicle.
The 41-year-old said it was a stark reminder of why she no longer jogs alone.
The mum from Hartlebury described the attack saying she felt something hit her neck and ‘sparks around her feet’ before a ‘really loud bang’ and a sudden feeling of coldness, while the attackers drove away ‘laughing’.
She said: "I was running and then I felt something hit my neck. I, kind of, batted it down - whatever it was - and then there were sparks and things going on around my feet.
“Then there was a really loud, really loud bang. Then I just felt really cold. I looked down and I was covered in egg. That was the firework that had gone off.
“I’m just quite a bit, like, really shook up, and I feel, I kept feeling, like, embarrassed and, like, ‘Why me?’ You know what I mean? I know it's a random attack, but, like, why me? I just feel really sad.
West Mercia Police have been informed of the attack at 7:45pm, on Bonfire Night, on Franche Road, where a police campaign earlier in the year called ‘JogOn’ had hoped to curb incidents like this.
“I didn't know what was going on. I didn't know what had happened, then the thing hit me and I didn't know what it was.
“And I think I turned around to see if anyone could help me and I noticed the car and somebody hanging out the window laughing, there was no one else.”
“They thought it was hilarious.”
Charlotte went for a jog on Thursday while waiting to pick up her daughter from a dance class on Thursday night, before being hit by both a firework and an egg. Immediately after the incident she attempted to report it to a police station around the corner, only to discover it closed.
She added: “I run in the week with a group on Wednesday called Run Social, which is just a lovely women's group, and I've been running with them for a couple of months now.
“I messaged them last night and I said: ‘This is why I don't run on my own’ and they've been just so supportive and they really, they're 100% behind my back.
“They want me to come back up running with them and everybody's been messaging me, saying, ‘If you ever don’t want to run on your own, we'll come with you’. Everybody's been really lovely.”
The mum has been left with scars on her neck and now feels scared to jog alone at night.
It comes after a busy few days for emergency services which included firework celebrations for Bonfire Night and Diwali.
Charlotte added: “I don't think I'll get up for a run for a little while.”
West Mercia Police and West Midlands Ambulance Service have been contacted for comment.