From crash survivor to TikTok storyteller - The 32-year-old hero who is encouraging road safety through her own tragic tales
The survivor of a crash in Birmingham that claimed the life of a 21-year-old girl has gained popularity on TikTok after telling her painful story.
Best friends Harriet Barnsley and Rebecca McManus were stood at a bus stop on the Hagley Road in Birmingham, near Bearwood on the evening of May 31, 2014, making their way to a hen do together ahead of a wedding they were both due to be bridesmaids for.
While they were waiting for the bus, a car driven by Sukvinder Mannan at 101mph lost control as it turned the corner and smashed into the bus shelter where the two 21-year-olds were standing.
Rebecca, from Oldbury, died at the scene. She had attended King Edward VI College in Stourbridge where she achieved four A Levels – two at A* and two at grade A – before enrolling with the University of East Anglia in Norwich for an English literature with creative writing degree course.
Harriet spent three months in a coma after the horrific crash, endured over 50 hours of life-saving operations and reconstructive surgery but lost the use of her left foot forever.
"We bounced off the car three times and were thrown 50 metres into the park behind the bus stop," Harriet told BBC Midlands Today. "I was in a coma for four weeks. My parents were told I may not survive," the 32-year-old said.
"There were lots of touch and go points where I could have died. I woke up and I felt like an 80-year-old in a 21-year-old's body.
