Bolton crash survivors left with ‘insufferable’ life-changing accidents communicate for first time

The couple were in a taxi with two others when it crashed killing four including the driver

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The survivors of the tragic crash in Bolton that claimed four lives have courageously spoken out for the first time.

A taxi driver and three teenagers tragically lost their lives in the horror crash in the early hours of last Sunday morning, January 11. Four other passengers who were in the taxi at the time of the accident, which occurred around 12.45am on Wigan Road, sustained severe injuries and were immediately rushed to hospital.

Among the survivors was 28-year-old Georgina Daniels, who believes she is lucky to be alive.

“I can’t fathom how we’re all still alive – it should have taken our lives,” she tearfully told the Manchester Evening News from her hospital bed.

“I have no idea how we’re all still here after seeing what happened to everyone and the state we are all in.”

Also in the taxi was her husband, Tom Daniels, a 29-year-old sales manager, who is also in hospital. Both have suffered devastating injuries.

Georgina added: “We’re still struggling to come to terms with the fact that all the things we’re talking about and reading about are about us. It’s hard to process.

“I can’t really put into words what it was like. I’m not sure anyone can describe what that is like. The pain we’ve been in itself has been relentless, just unbearable. Our lives will never be the same again.

“We’ve got a long journey now of rehabilitation, and both of those journeys are very different.”

The collision has come just seven months after the Bolton pair tied the knot, meaning they now face ‘the foreseeable future’ apart whilst recovering from their devastating injuries.

Georgina’s voice trembled and her eyes filled with tears as she revealed: “Our wedding was only seven months ago, we’ve been together more than 10 years.

“We’ve basically always lived together – even when we didn’t have our own place, we would pack bags and stay at each other’s mum’s house for three or four days at a time.

“We’ve never been separate for too long. Now it’s our first year of marriage and we are going to have to live apart with life-changing injuries, with no end date.

“My legs are okay but my other injuries are going to need 24-hour care, but Tom now has major mobility issues, especially using stairs. We will both need 24-hour care for a long time.

“All of the recovery, rebuilding, the things we will have to get over. And we will have to do it apart. It’s cruel. There are no words to describe it.”

Following the crash, a massive emergency response team rushed to the location, with police officers, fire crews and paramedics all attending the scene, whilst a cordon was established and the carriageway was sealed off.

A red Seat Leon struck a Citroen C4 Picasso in a head-on smash, with the youngsters travelling in the Seat identified as Mohammed Jibrael Mukhtar, 18, Farhan Patel, 18 and 19-year-old Mohammed Danyaal. An 18-year-old man, who was a passenger in the Seat, ‘remained in hospital for treatment on minor injuries’, as of Monday.

The Citroën was a taxi. Its driver, 54-year-old Masrob Ali, was the fourth person to die in the tragedy.

The taxi was carrying four passengers, including Georgina and Tom.

The other passengers included two of their ‘best friends’, who do not wish to be identified, but have also been left with horrific injuries.

The group of four taxi passengers were travelling together after a party in celebration of another couple of friends, to say farewell as they embark on an adventure to Australia.

Georgina explained to the MEN: “They are going on the journey of a lifetime, and we had the best night with the best group of friends, we’re all so close. It was such a good way of sending them off.

“It should have been such an exciting part of their lives, for the night to end that way it did – it’s shocking to say the least. It’s one extreme to the other.”

Now, she and her husband have been left with both traumatic injuries and memories.

“Between [Tom and I], we’ve had four surgeries,” she said.

It’s been a really difficult experience for all four of us [who were passengers in the taxi].

“Tom remembers bits of it, a lot of it he doesn’t remember. For some reason, I remember every single second of it.

“That’s helped with statements and explaining it to people around us. I remember it as if it was 10 minutes ago.”

Reflecting on their ordeal, Georgina revealed: “What I’ll say is that it was quite a long event, we didn’t get into ambulances quickly. I can’t fathom how we’re all still alive – it should have taken our lives.

“I have no idea how we’re all still here after seeing what happened to everyone and the state we are all in.”

“The biggest shock of all is that we are all still here. It was just devastation.”

Friends of the four survivors have set up a fundraising campaign to support them through the unimaginable period that lies ahead. Within hours, £17,000 poured in from generous donors.

By the afternoon of January 17, the appeal had amassed £23,945 towards its £40,000 goal.

You can contribute to the GoFundMe here.

“Our injuries are life-changing, we don’t know the extent of them yet, and they’ll require so much aftercare,” explained Georgina, who works as an NHS manager.

“That’s why the fundraiser was made, for anything that insurance may not cover.

“We’ve had no idea what to do, it’s a situation that, unless it’s happened to you, you’re just so ignorant to what it feels like. It’s every minute of every day, it’s so hard to describe.

“As much pain as we’ve both been in, the mental side of it is one hundred times worse.

“We were in a taxi so it’s not straightforward what happens now. It could be years down the line before we come to a conclusion. Investigations can take 18 months. We’re likely to be off work over that time and have care that needs to be financially funded.

“Luckily, I say this with absolute certainty, we’ve got the best people around us. What we’ve had to do in the last week, we would have had no idea – we’ve done what we’ve been told to do.”

The pair delivered a heartfelt tribute to Mr Ali, their taxi driver, calling for reform on Britain’s roads.

Georgina said: “[Mr Ali’s death is] devastating in itself. It was just a short journey and he was nothing but lovely to us.

“I have read as much as I can about him, I know he had a family, and that people really loved him.

“Lives have been lost, lives have been changed. We can never take this back, it will stay with us for the rest of our lives.”

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